Do you know about airplanes? ✈️

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Speaker 1: You're listening to sleep Tight Science. Did you know that the first airplane flight by the Wright Brothers in nineteen oh three only lasted for twelve seconds and covered a distance of just one hundred and twenty feet or thirty six meters. What that's shorter than the length of a soccer field. Hello, friends, and welcome back to sleep Tight Science, a bedtime show that answers your questions about science. You see airplanes soaring, zooming, and even roaring through the skies all the time. We may take this for granted, but understanding some of the science behind airplanes gives us a better understanding of the wonders of flying through the air. In this episode, we will start to learn about airplanes and try to answer some of the questions that you, our listeners, have submitted about this topic and others. So let's fasten our seatbelts. Start with a couple definitions and learn how these fascinating and cool machines lie. An airplane is a vehicle with wings and one or more engines capable of moving through the air. These machines fly by producing an upward force that overcomes their weight. They also generate thrust that drives them forward and helps them steer. While birds have been flying for millions of years, it's something relatively new to humans. We rely on some important scientific principles to achieve it. Have you ever thrown a frisbee? It flies because of the principles or ideas of flight that control the movement of objects as they fly. The same four principles that help a frisbee fly apply to all objects as they fly through the air, even an airplane. The four principles are lift, thrust, drag, and weight. As a frisbee flies through the air, lift holds it up. You gave the frisbee thrust with your arm. Drag from the air makes the frisbee slow down, and its weight brings the frisbee back to Earth again. Let's look at the four principles more closely. The first is lift. Lift is the force that enables an airplane to overcome gravity and become airborne. It is generated by the wings of the airplane. The top surface of an aircraft's wing is curved and the bottom is flatter. This shape is called an airfoil. The airfoil creates a longer distance for air to travel over the curved upper surface than the flatter lower surface, resulting in a lower air pressure on the upper surface and a higher air pressure on the lower surface, which produces lift. The overall force of lift pushes the wing up. Next is thrust. Thrust is the force that propels an airplane forward. Thrust must be greater than drag to allow the airplane to maintain or increase its speed. All early airplanes were powered by gasoline driven piston engines that spun propellers. Each blade of a propeller has an air foil shape. As it moves through the air, it creates a forward force called thrust, just as the wing creates an upward force called lift. Many modern planes are fitted with changeable pitch propellers that can alter the angle at which they bite into the air. The pilot changes engine speed and pitch like a cyclist changes gear and pedals. Faster or slower airplanes are held back by air resistance. This force is called drag. The faster an aircraft flies, the greater the drag. Drag is a particular problem when designing high speed planes, since its effect increases greatly with small increases in speed. Drag must be overcome by the airplane's thrust to maintain or increase speed. The last of these four principles is weight. Weight is the force exerted on an airplane by gravity. It is the airplane's mass and everything it carries, such as passengers, cargo, and fuel. The weight of an airplane must be balanced by an equal and opposite force, such as lift or the airplane to maintain a steady flight. If you've ever watched a plane flying high up in the sky, the first thing you might notice is the noise of the engines. You might have thought engines are the key to making a plane fly, But as we have seen, these four principles of flight make these and all objects fly. Now let's answer a few other questions listeners have sent in Morrow asks how big is a fully grown elephant really big? The largest elephant ever recorded was an African elephant named Jumbo, who lived in the nineteenth century. Jumbo was reportedly four meters or thirteen feet tall at the shoulder and weighed approximately six eight hundred kilograms or fifteen thousand pounds. Other than Jumbo, a fully grown elephant varies in size depending on the species. The two main elephant species are the African elephant and the Asian elephant. The African elephant is the larger of the two species, with males standing up to jumbo size of four meters or thirteen feet tall at the shoulder and weighing up to six thousand, three hundred fifty kilograms or fourteen thousand pounds. At the same time, Females are slightly smaller, standing up to three meters or ten feet tall and weighing up to three thousand, five hundred kilograms or seven thousand, seven hundred pounds. The Asian elephant is smaller than the African elephant, with males standing up to three meters or ten feet tall at the shoulder and weighing up to five thousand, five hundred kilograms or twelve thousand pounds. At the same time, Females are slightly smaller, standing up to two point five meters or eight feet tall and weighing up to three thousand kilograms or six six hundred pounds. Did you know that elephants have an incredible memory? Elephants are known to have a remarkable ability to remember places other elephants and even humans they encountered years or even decades ago. Levina asks, why is it so hard to use your opposite hand thank you, Levina. To answer your question, I tried writing with my non dominant or opposite hand and had a tough time. This is not just because the muscles in this hand are weaker from lack of use, but because the movements required for any given task are stored in the opposite hemisphere of the brain from the hand that typically performs that task. When you try to use your opposite hand, your brain sends signals to the opposite hemisphere to start the required movements, which can be difficult and less efficient than using your dominant hand. In general, the left hemisphere of your brain controls speech, comprehension, arithmetic, and writing. The right hemisphere controls creativity, spatial ability, and artistic and musical skills. The left hemisphere dominates hand use in language in about ninety two percent of people. Elia asks how do bacteria get in our bodies? First, not all bacteria are harmful. Many types of bacteria are beneficial and necessary for our health, such as the bacteria in our stomach that helps us digest food and boost our immune system. Here are a few of the most common ways bacteria get into our bodies. Bacteria can enter our bodies through the food and water we eat and drink. Contaminated food or water can contain harmful bacteria, which can cause infections or illnesses when swallowed and absorbed. Some things we eat include healthy bacteria. Yogurt, kiefer, kimchi, and sauerkraut are yummy and have lots of helpful bacteria. Bacteria can also enter our bodies through the air we breathe. Certain types of bacteria can become airborne, such as those that cause respiratory infections like pneumonia, and these can be inhaled into your lungs. And lastly, bacteria can also enter our bodies through animal bites or scratches. Certain animals, such as dogs and cats, can carry bacteria that cause infections. Thank Youmorrow, Liviana, and Elia for these questions. Now back to airplanes. What is the difference between a plane wings and a bird's wings? A bird's flight has always inspired the design of airplanes. Airplanes have wings just like birds. They also have a light skeleton to decrease their weight and a streamlined shape to reduce drag. Although both a plane's wings and a bird's wings are designed to provide lift, there are some key differences between the two. A plane's wings are designed to be aerodynamic, with a smooth, curved shape that allows it to generate lift and reduce drag. In contrast, a bird's wings have a more complex shape, allowing it to adjust its lift and maneuverability, or the ability to move and steer when flying. A bird's wings are highly flexible, allowing them to change shape to adjust to changing conditions such as turbulence or wind gusts. While kites, some lightweight gliders, and airplanes have flexible wing surfaces, larger aircraft have much more rigid or stiff wing surfaces to provide additional strength during turbulence. Airplane wings can bend without compromising any structural integrity. Birds use their wings to flap and generate lift, while airplanes use engines to generate forward thrust and create the airflow needed for lift. A plane's wings are typically made of metal or composite materials. In contrast, a bird's wings are made of feathers and bones. Birds feathers can be adjusted to control airflow and improve lift at the same time, airplane wings rely on their fixed shape and control surfaces such as elerons and flaps to control lift and drag. Why can't planes go backwards. Planes can go backwards on the ground, but they cannot fly backwards in the air. This is because the wings shape and the engine's direction are designed to provide lift and thrust in a forward direction. Airplanes need lift and thrust to move forward through the air. Even if the engines could be turned around to face backwards, the wings would not generate lift in that direction, and the plane would simply stall or stop and fall out of the sky. Additionally, the control surfaces of an airplane, such as the rudder and elevators, are designed to control the airplane's movement in a forward direction. It would not be effective in controlling the plane if it moved backwards. A plane would have to turn around if it wanted to reverse directions. Fun facts. The only living things capable of powered flight are insects, birds, and bats. While some can glide, bats are the only mammals able to sustain flight. Lying fish have been known to glide for hundreds of meters thanks to enlarged fins that act like wings. In the nineteen thirties, Amelia Earhart emerged as one of the leading pilots in the United States. She became the first woman to cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Unfortunately, she disappeared in a flight while attempting to be the first person to circumnavigate or travel all the way around the world using an airplane. In nineteen thirty seven before Amelia Earhart, gene Batten, a New Zealand pilot, made several record breaking solo flights worldwide. In nineteen thirty eight, she became the first woman to be awarded the Medal of the Federation Aeronautic International. In nineteen thirty three, the first model passenger airline, Boeing to forty seven was built. It could carry ten passengers and fly at one hundred and fifty five miles per hour. Today, the world's longest NonStop commercial flight is from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey, covering nine thousand, five hundred and thirty four miles or fifteen thousand, three hundred and forty five kilometers, and it can carry up to four hundred and forty passengers. During World War II, the US military developed a plane made of ice that could be used for one way missions. A typical airplane has around six million parts. The fastest manned airplane ever built is the North American x fifteen, which reached a top speed of four thousand, five hundred and twenty miles per hour or seven two hundred and seventy four kilometers per hour during a test flight in nineteen sixty seven. The world's smallest airplane is slightly larger than a dragonfly, and it's called the bumblebee. The world's largest airplane is the antonov An two two five Maria, which has a wingspan of eighty eight point four meters or two hundred and ninety feet, and can carry up to six hundred and forty thousand pounds. The world's largest passenger plane is the Airbus A three eight zero, which can carry up to eight hundred and fifty three passengers. The world's largest paper airplane was forty five feet long and weighed over eight hundred pounds. Airplanes have their own secret language. Pilots and air traffic controllers use a special code called the phonetic alphabet to communicate over the radio. Instead of saying the letters ABC, they use words like alpha, Bravo, and Charlie to avoid confusion. So if you ever hear a pilot say Roger that delta bravo, you'll know they're really saying got it dB, which stands for done and dust it. On any Friday afternoon in July and August, there could be between sixteen thousand and twenty thousand planes in the air. In Japan, an airline offers flights to nowhere, where passengers take off and then land at the same airport without ever leaving the plane. In this episode, we learned what an airplane is and how they fly. There are four principles that allow a plane to fly. They are lift, thrust, drag, and wait. We talked more about each of these and why they are important. We discussed how birds wings and airplane wings are different and the same, and figured out why planes cannot go backwards. This episode was made with questions from Remy, Sophia, and Kira. I'd like to say thank you to Sophia and Riley. We hope to use your ideas in future episodes. We love getting your feedback on our show. If you have any feedback, please send it our way, and also we would love it if you left us a review. Wherever you listen to podcasts, your review might help others decide to listen to our show too. If you'd like to send us your questions, please send them to Hello at sleep tightscience dot com. Thank you, Yeah,