3 Basic concepts every aeronautical engineer must know.

Newton’s first law-Inertia:

Every object persists in its state of uniform rest or uniform motion in a straight
line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed on it.

Applied on airplane:
There are four major forces acting on an aircraft.

 Lift
 Drag
 Thrust
 Weight.

When flying at a constant altitude (cruising condition). There is no net force on the airplane and
it travels at a constant velocity in a straight line. (i.e)Lift=weight and thrust=drag.

When the pilot changes the thrust of the engine, the thrust and drag will become unbalanced.
The aircraft will move in the direction of greater force.

Newton’s second law-Force:

Force is equal to change in momentum per change in time. For a constant mass
force equals mass times acceleration.
F=m*a

Applied on airplane:
The motion of an aircraft resulting from aerodynamic forces, aircraft weight, and can be
computed by using the second law of motion.

Newton’s third law-Action and reaction:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Applied on airplane:
It helps to explain the generation of lift from an airfoil. Air, when deflected downwards by the
action of airfoil and in return, the wing pushed upwards.
A jet engine also works on the same principle. The engine produces hot exhaust gases, which
flow out the back of the engine. In reaction, a thrusting force produced in the opposite direction.