Thrust To Power
The power needed to generate thrust and the force of the thrust can be related in a non-linear way. In general, . The proportionality constant varies, and can be solved for a uniform flow:
Note that these calculations are only valid for when the incoming air is accelerated from a standstill - for example when hovering.
The inverse of the proportionality constant, the "efficiency" of an otherwise-perfect thruster, is proportional to the area of the cross section of the propelled volume of fluid and the density of the fluid . This helps to explain why moving through water is easier and why aircraft have much larger propellers than watercraft do.
Read more about this topic: Thrust
Famous quotes containing the words thrust and/or power:
“Here, my dear Lucy, hide these books. Quick, quick! Fling “Peregrine Pickle” under the toilette—throw “Roderick Random” into the closet—put “The Innocent Adultery” into “The Whole Duty of Man”; thrust “Lord Aimworth” under the sofa! cram “Ovid” behind the bolster; there—put “The Man of Feeling” into your pocket. Now for them.”
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816)
“We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.... The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.”
—Omar Bradley (1893–1981)