Biomedical Engineering: Bridging Medicine and Technology 1st Edition by Veronique Tran,Mark Saltzman

Exercise 15

A Boeing 747 is flying at a constant speed of 600 mph (270 m/s) at an altitude of 30,000 ft (9,100 m). As the plane moves through the atmosphere, air flowing over the surface of the plane creates a drag force, acting in the opposite direction of motion. The drag on the aircraft can be calculated from the following formula: Assuming that the drag coefficient for a 747 is 0.031, calculate the total drag on the moving airliner. Remember that the density of air at 30,000 ft is much different than the density of air at sea level.