Calculate the ratio of drag force on a jet flying at 1200km/h at an altitude of 15km to the drag force on a prop driven transport flying at half that speed and altitude. The density of air is 0.38 kg/m^3 at 15 km and 0.67 kg/m^3 at 7.5 km?

Assume that the airplanes have the same effective cross-sectional area and drag
coefficient C.

1 Answer
Jun 3, 2018

We know that drag force #D# on an object moving with a velocity #v# is given by the expression

#D=1/2CrhoAv^2#
where #C# is drag coefficient, #rho# is density of fluid in which object moves

Ratio of drag forces #R=D_"jet"/D_"prop"#. Inserting given values we get

#R=(1/2Cxx0.38A(1200)^2)/(1/2Cxx0.67A(600)^2)#
#=>R=(0.38(1200)^2)/(0.67(600)^2)#
#=>R=2.3#, rounded to one decimal place.