THEORY

Drag is a force and is therefore a vector quantity having both a magnitude and a direction. Drag acts in a
direction that is opposite to the motion of the aircraft.

In astro dynamics, depending on the situation, atmospheric drag can be regarded as inefficiency requiring
expense of additional energy during launch of the space object or as a bonus simplifying return from
orbit.
Types of drag are generally divided into three categories:

Parasitic drag
Lift-induced drag
Wave drag

Parasitic drag includes form drag, skin friction, and interference drag. Lift-induced drag is only relevant
when wings or a lifting body are present, and is therefore usually discussed either in the aviation
perspective of drag, or in the design of either semi-planning or planning hulls. Wave drag occurs when a
solid object is moving through a fluid at or near the speed of sound in that fluid.
The overall drag of an object is characterized by a dimensionless number called the drag coefficient, and
is calculated using the drag equation. Assuming a constant drag coefficient, drag will vary as the square of
velocity. Thus, the resultant power needed to overcome this drag will vary as the cube of velocity. The

standard equation for drag is one half the coefficient of drag multiplied by the fluid mass density, the
cross sectional area of the specified item, and the square of the velocity.

Drag is the component of force on a body acting parallel to the direction of relative motion. The drag
force, FD, was written in the functional form FD = f1 (d, V, , ). Application of the Buckingham Pi
theorem resulted in two dimensionless parameters that written in function form as

FD
1
V 2 d 2
2

Vd

f 2

(1.0)
Note that d2 is proportional to the cross-sectional area (A = d2/4) and therefore we could write

FD
1
V 2 A
2

Vd
f 3 (Re)

f 3

(1.1)

Although Eq. 1.1 was obtained for sphere, the form of equation is valid for incompressible flow over
anybody; the characteristic length used in the Reynolds Number depends on body shape.

The drag coefficient, CD, anybody defined as:

(1.2)