Aerodynamics

What is aerodynamics? The word comes from two Greek words: aerios, concerning the air, and dynamis, which means force. Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects moving through a fluid in particular, air. Judging from the story of Daedalus and Icarus, it can be seen that humans were eager to reach for the skies. Knowledge of aerodynamics is necessary for the design of safe and efficient flying machies. Aerodynamics as a field came into existence only at the dawn of the 19th century owing to the pioneering work of Ludwig Prantl, Theodore Van Karman, Sir Arthur Cayley and others. Upto this time it was studied under the fluid mechanics discipline.

It is a highly mathematical discipline which describes the motion of bodies by using differential equations, complex numbers and other basic principles of physics. Lift generated by the wing of an aircraft, a beach ball thrown near the shore, design of cars and buildings and many more phenomenon in nature can be explained with the help of this knowledge.