Fact of the Day: 30/12/2020

What is atmospheric drag? Also known as air resistance, it refers to the amount of friction something experiences as it moves through air. The faster an object moves, the more resistance it faces. The amount of drag is also due to the air concentration in a given atmospheric layer.

Have you ever stuck your hand out the window of a car while it sped down the highway? You may have felt the air rushing past you with a force so strong it pushed your hand back relative to the car. If you have experienced this, then you’re familiar with atmospheric drag.

The effect is amplified when the acceleration of a moving object is great – examples include a plane taking off from a runway and a rocket launching into space. As the atmosphere gets thinner, the effect of drag is lessened. However, its strength is the reason why airplanes and rockets have a streamlined structure – to get past the lower layers of our atmosphere without disintegrating from the heat generated through the friction from air resistance.

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