Wing facts for kids
A wing is a special part of an object, like an airplane or a bird, that helps it move through air or water. It creates an upward push called lift. This lift helps things fly or glide.
When a wing moves, it also creates something called drag. Drag is a force that pulls back on the wing, making it harder to move forward. Engineers try to design wings that create a lot of lift but as little drag as possible. This makes airplanes more fuel-efficient.
Wings are shaped in specific ways. Their cross-section (if you cut through it) is called an airfoil. Their overall shape from above is called a planform. The study of how wings work in air is called aerodynamics.
Wings are not just for air! They are also used in water. These are often called foils or hydrofoils. You can find them on hydroplanes, sailboats, and even submarines. The study of how wings work in water is called hydrodynamics.
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What is a Wing?
The word "wing" comes from an old Norse word, vængr. For a long time, it mostly meant the front limbs of birds. But over the years, its meaning grew. Now, it also describes the parts that help insects, bats, and ancient pterosaurs fly.
Wings can also be found on objects made by people. Think of boomerangs, some sailboats, and aircraft. Even race cars have upside-down wings. These special wings create a downward push called downforce. This helps the car stick to the track and go faster around corners.
Wings in Nature
Nature has created many amazing types of wings. Over millions of years, wings have developed in different animals and even plants. They help creatures move around.
Many birds use their wings to fly through the air. But some birds, like penguins, auks, and cormorants, use their wings to swim underwater! They are very good at pushing through the water with their wings, just like fish use fins.
- Wing forms in nature
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Winged tree seeds that spin like helicopters as they fall.
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A laughing gull showing its wing shape.
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A bat flying.
How Wings Work: Aerodynamics
The science of how wings work in the air is called aerodynamics. It's a big part of designing aircraft. To understand how a wing creates lift, imagine air flowing over and under it.
For a wing to create "lift," it needs to be tilted at the right angle of attack. This means the wing is angled slightly upward into the oncoming air. When this happens, the wing pushes the air downwards. Because the wing pushes the air down, the air pushes the wing up. This upward push is lift!
This force happens because of different air pressures around the wing. The air moving over the top of the wing speeds up. This creates lower air pressure above the wing. The air moving under the wing slows down slightly. This creates higher air pressure below the wing. The higher pressure underneath pushes the wing up towards the lower pressure above. This is a key idea from Bernoulli's principle.
So, the lower pressure on top and higher pressure on the bottom work together. They create the upward force we call lift. Scientists can calculate lift by looking at these pressure differences, or by how much the air's direction changes. All these ways of looking at it lead to the same answer about how much lift a wing produces.
Wing Shapes and Speed
Wings often have a special cross-sectional shape. This shape is called an airfoil.
- For slower flights, like most airplanes, wings usually have an asymmetrical (uneven) shape. They are curved more on top than on the bottom. This shape helps create a lot of lift.
- Some wings have a symmetrical (even) shape. These wings can also create lift if they are tilted at an angle. Symmetrical wings are often used on aerobatic aircraft. This is because they work the same way whether the plane is flying right-side up or upside-down.
- For planes that fly close to the speed of sound (called transonic flight), special shapes are used. These are called supercritical airfoils. They are flatter on top and curved on the bottom. This design helps reduce drag when flying very fast.
Wing Design Features
Aircraft wings have many clever features to help them fly better:
- Rounded Front Edge: The front edge of a wing is usually rounded. This helps air flow smoothly over it.
- Sharp Back Edge: The back edge of a wing is usually sharp. This helps the air flow cleanly off the wing.
- Leading-edge devices: These are parts at the front of the wing, like slats or slots. They can extend out to create more lift, especially during takeoff and landing.
- Trailing-edge devices: These are parts at the back of the wing, like flaps. They can extend down to increase lift and drag, helping the plane fly slower or land.
- Winglets: These are small, upward-curved tips at the end of the wing. They help reduce drag and make the wing more efficient.
- Dihedral: This is when the wings are angled slightly upward from the body of the plane. It helps make the plane more stable in the air.
- Ailerons: These are movable parts near the wingtips. Pilots use them to roll the aircraft left or right.
- Spoilers: These panels pop up on the top of the wing. They increase drag and reduce lift, helping the plane slow down and stop on the runway.
- Vortex generators: Small fins on the wing that help keep the airflow smooth, especially at high speeds.
- Wing fences: Small walls on the wing that help control how air flows over it.
- Folding wings: Some aircraft, especially those on aircraft carriers, have wings that can fold up. This saves space.
- Variable-sweep wings: Also called "swing wings," these wings can move backward or forward. They are spread out for slow flight (like takeoff) and swept back for fast flight (like supersonic flight). Famous examples include the F-14 Tomcat and Panavia Tornado.
Where Else Are Wings Used?
Wings are not just for regular airplanes! You can find wing shapes in many other places:
- Hang gliders: These use different kinds of wings, from soft fabric wings (like paragliders) to more rigid ones.
- Kites: Kites are basically wings that are held in place by a string. They use the wind to create lift.
- Helicopters: Helicopters use spinning wings (called rotor blades) to create lift and move in any direction.
- Propellers: The blades of a propeller are like small wings. They spin to create thrust, pulling or pushing an aircraft forward.
- NASA Space Shuttle: The Space Shuttle had wings, but it only used them to glide like a plane when returning to Earth and landing on a runway.
- Formula One cars: These fast race cars use upside-down wings. These wings create a downward force, pushing the car onto the track. This helps the tires grip better, especially when going fast around corners.
- Sailboats: The sails on a sailboat act like vertical wings. They catch the wind to push the boat across the water.
Flexible Wings
Did you know some wings can be flexible? In 1948, a person named Francis Rogallo invented a completely soft, flexible wing. Later, Domina Jalbert created flexible, thick wings that fill with air, like those used in paragliders.
See also
- Flight
- Bird flight
- Flying and gliding animals
- Insect flight
- Samara (winged seeds of trees)
- Aircraft
- Flight dynamics (fixed-wing aircraft)
- Kite types
- Ornithopter – Aircraft that flap their wings
- Otto Lilienthal
- Wing configuration
- Wing suit
- Sails
- Forces on sails
- Wingsail
