Debunking the Airplane Lift Myth: The Bernoulli Fallacy
2025-04-23
The common explanation for airplane lift using Bernoulli's principle—faster air over the top, lower pressure, thus lift—is fundamentally flawed. This article argues that this "equal transit time" fallacy, while simple and intuitive, neglects crucial factors like viscosity, entrainment, and the Coanda effect, and violates Newton's third law. Lift primarily results from the downward deflection of air by the wing, a consequence of Newton's third law; even symmetrical airfoils generate lift. While Bernoulli's equation itself isn't wrong, its application in explaining lift often involves erroneous assumptions and additions.
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