So what in fact is Aerodynamics? Aerodynamics comes from two Greek words: aerios, concerning the air, and dynamis, meaning powerful. Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air.

Since the begining of time man has been interested in why things fly, and only in the past hundred years have we actually been able to. Anything that travels through the air for any matter of time is affected by aerodynamics, whether it be a jet plane or a baseball thrown by a pitcher.

Specifically looking at a plane, the four aerodynamic forces that act upon a plane in flight are weight, lift, drag, and thrust. These forces are constantly in affect when the airplane is in the sky. Gravity and weight go hand in hand when talking about how heavy a plane is. To balance this weight, lift is needed. Most of the lift comes from the wings while going through the air at high speeds. Drag can be described as the forces that slow a plane down, or air resistance. To balance out that drag, the plane uses its engines to produce thrust and make the airplane go foward. Altogether, these forces try and make flight diffucult for us to make air travel possible, however, this is where aerodynamics comes in.