Simviation Forum - a physics question

Mar 11^th, 2005 at 11:33pm

labu Offline
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an aircraft flying directly north from the equator will that find itself curving toward the east.

Why would this happen?

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Reply #1 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 12:09am

SilverFox441 Offline
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Angular velocity differences at the Equator and poles or magnetic deviation, either one could cause this effect for different reasons.

Steve (Silver Fox) Daly

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Reply #2 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 1:12am

Mobius Offline
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I remember it being something to do with the coriolis effect but I can't remember so, I'm not really sure.

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Reply #3 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 1:40am

labu Offline
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thanks, it should be in the case.
i've found sth on the web about the effect

coriolis effect - wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect/

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Reply #4 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 1:42am

labu Offline
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i'm sorry.

the url shoud be:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

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Reply #5 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 3:41am

eno Offline
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OOO a nice Scania bus in your avatar..... Probably with coachwork from Scotland.

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Reply #6 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 10:28am

Rifleman Offline
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Quote:

an aircraft flying directly north from the equator will that find itself curving toward the east.

Why would this happen?

I would think this has to do with the rotation of the earth and the fact that the atmosphere will "slip" in relationship to the planet......the aircraft is no longer attached to the planet proper, and is in fact just a "boat" in a moving stream........

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Reply #7 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 1:10pm

beaky Offline
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Hmmm. I'm thinking Coriolis, because if it's just the atmosphere "slipping" due to inertia, the plane would drift west (the Earth rotates eastward!). But here's a question: Are you talking true north or magnetic north? The magnetic North Pole is a few hundred miles south of the geographic North Pole...

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Reply #8 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 5:43pm

Mobius Offline
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Quote:

The magnetic North Pole is a few hundred miles south of the geographic North Pole...

But it would be east on one side of the earth and west on the other side.

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Reply #9 - Mar 12^th, 2005 at 9:10pm

Saratoga Offline
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Ask.com?

It is a question though of which north you are talking about.
True or magnetic?

Pilot for a major US airline certified in the: EMB-120, CRJ, 727, 737, 757, 767, and A-320 and military, T-38, C-130, C-141, and C-5 along with misc. other small airplanes. Any questions, I'm here for you.

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Reply #10 - Mar 13^th, 2005 at 10:29pm

labu Offline
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air safety is no accident

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Reply #11 - Mar 14^th, 2005 at 6:29pm

Saratoga Offline
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Ya, a true heading of 360 would lead you straight to the North Pole, where the compass would reverse and lead you straight south. Magnetic heading would lead you to the magnetic North Pole, where the compass would reverse, and you would keep flying north but flying south... Roll Eyes

Pilot for a major US airline certified in the: EMB-120, CRJ, 727, 737, 757, 767, and A-320 and military, T-38, C-130, C-141, and C-5 along with misc. other small airplanes. Any questions, I'm here for you.

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Reply #12 - Mar 15^th, 2005 at 5:57am

labu Offline
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Quote:

an aircraft flying directly north from the equator will that find itself curving toward the east.

Why would this happen?

Firstly I must say my English is not good Undecided

, and hopefully it's understandable. I'm a layman in Physics, actually both aviation and Physics. ???

These are one of my friend’s words,

"The aircraft will find itself curving towards the east due to the Coriolis Effect. Place on the Earth at different latitudes have different linear speeds. The linear speed at Equator is higher than that near the North Pole. According to Newton’s first Law, an object moving east continues going and magnitude until something exerts a force on it to change its velocity. Thus aircraft launched to the North from Equator retains the eastward component of velocity. But if it travels far enough away from the Equator, it will no longer be going eastward at the same speed, as the ground beneath them away from equation move at a lower eastward speed than the Equator. As a result, the airplane traveling away from the equator will eventually be heading east faster than the ground below it."

But curving eastward actually would not happen, we have autopilot which will adjust the wings and keep flying straight.

I don't know if this link would help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

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Reply #13 - Mar 15^th, 2005 at 4:52pm

beaky Offline
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Quote:

Ask.com?

It is a question though of which north you are talking about.
True or magnetic?

Right. And if you were west of it, you'd curve east, if you were trying to fly north using only the compass. Not specified in the question, so it remains a possibility.
Could also just be distortion of isogonic (magnetic field) lines; they're not straight, and vary according to location.

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Reply #14 - Mar 15^th, 2005 at 4:55pm

beaky Offline
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Quote:

Firstly I must say my English is not good Undecided

, and hopefully it's understandable. I'm a layman in Physics, actually both aviation and Physics. ???

These are one of my friend’s words,

"The aircraft will find itself curving towards the east due to the Coriolis Effect. Place on the Earth at different latitudes have different linear speeds. The linear speed at Equator is higher than that near the North Pole. According to Newton’s first Law, an object moving east continues going and magnitude until something exerts a force on it to change its velocity. Thus aircraft launched to the North from Equator retains the eastward component of velocity. But if it travels far enough away from the Equator, it will no longer be going eastward at the same speed, as the ground beneath them away from equation move at a lower eastward speed than the Equator. As a result, the airplane traveling away from the equator will eventually be heading east faster than the ground below it."

[img]

But curving eastward actually would not happen, we have autopilot which will adjust the wings and keep flying straight.

I don't know if this link would help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

Makes sense to me... a point only 50 miles from the pole is moving at the same rpms as a point on the equator, but the point on the equator has more more distance to go in the same period of time. Thus, it goes faster.

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Reply #15 - Mar 15^th, 2005 at 7:38pm

Saratoga Offline
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Ya, like a propeller, the tips are spinning much faster than the spinner is, thus when the flight is over the friction has warmed the tips but the spinner is still cold metal.

Pilot for a major US airline certified in the: EMB-120, CRJ, 727, 737, 757, 767, and A-320 and military, T-38, C-130, C-141, and C-5 along with misc. other small airplanes. Any questions, I'm here for you.

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