Question about pressure difference?
A Boeing 737 airplane has a mass of 20,000 kg. The total area of the wings is 100 m2 (Bottom or top side of the wings, not both). What must be the pressure difference between the top and bottom of the wings to lift the airplane?
Since the plane’s mass is 2e4 (kg), the gravitational force is
F = g * 2e4 = 9.8 * 2e4 = 1.96e5 (N)
If this is to be provided by excess pressure P over the area 100 (m^2), then:
P = 1.96e5/100 = 1.96e3 (Pa) = 1.96 (kPa); this is approximately 2% of atmospheric pressure, which doesn’t seem like very much.
Crazy Boeing 737 Crash Landing
