Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 10-11.
The effect of flap deflection on lift coefficient
Center of Pressure
In the “How Lift Is Created” section of this chapter, you learned that according to Bernoulli's
equation the pressure on the surface of the wing is related to the air velocity as it flows over the
wing. Because the air velocity will vary over the surface of the wing, so will the surface pressure.
Figure 10-12 shows what a typical pressure distribution curve over the top and bottom surfaces
of an airfoil might look like.
Figure 10-12.
A typical surface pressure distribution
In the “Rigid Body Motion” section of Chapter 4, you learned that when modeling transla-
tional motion, the mass of an object can be considered to be concentrated at a point known
as the center of mass. A similar concept is applied to the pressure distribution of airfoils.
