The Truth To Flight
Editor's Note: This is a speech I wrote for a competition around three years ago. Sorry if the grammar or spelling is a little bit off, I wrote this in grade six.
For years movies and television shows have depicted flying as a faster way to move around than walking, and that it requires hardly any effort to do. Think of Superman and Supergirl, both aliens born on the planet of Krypton. Both of them can fly with ease and they have super strength to boot. If only I could fly, I would go all over the world and meet all sorts of people. I can imagine soaring like a bird. Not only would I do things for myself but I would also help other people by saving them from falling or getting someone's grandma out of a tree. The possibilities are endless. But, is that really the truth? Well, I'm going to show you what would really happen if humans could fly without tools or machines.
To better understand flying, I will first talk about running. The world record for fastest short distance sprint speed is about 27 mph. Running speed depends on how much force is exerted by the runner's legs and according to Newton's second law of motion, force is the product of mass times acceleration. Newton's third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So when you run, your feet push off the ground and the ground pushes back, propelling you forward.
And without anything to push off of, flying is a lot like swimming. Michael Phelps is currently the fastest swimmer of all time and is the most decorated Olympian. Guess how fast he swims? His fasted recorded speed is only 5 mph. A child on the ground could easily out run Phelps in water. This is because when we run we move forward by pushing against the ground and having the ground push us back, thus propelling us forward, like I said earlier. The ground is solid so by definition it means the particles are locked into place and must push back instead of getting out of the way. Water is liquid and flows easily. And when we move our arms and legs to push the water, a part of it just moves out of the way.
Now let's move over to flying. Air has way more space to move around you then water in a pool does, so even more energy would be wasted trying to propel forward because a lot of the air would need to be pushed backward in order to move forward. Astronauts move around in zero gravity by pulling on handles and footholds placed in the shuttle.
Imagine you were given the ability to fly, how would you move around in the middle of the street? Well, you wouldn't get very far just by "swimming" in air. What if you had the ability to move around quickly? Well the ideal gas law says that as air pressure decreases, gas volume increases. So if you were to fly up too quickly, the gas in your body would rapidly expand just like the way pop does when shaken. The phenomenon is called "The Bends" a sickness divers get when they come up out of the water too fast. It could cause pain, paralysis, or even death depending on how much your blood fizzes up. Of course, if you wanted to fly just a few meters off the ground where you can still see other people and street signs, you would need to wear goggles and a helmet to protect you from bugs and anything you may hit. Remeber, if you have a collision mid-flight you will experience free fall until you hit the ground.
Flying would be a way cooler ability to have if physics didn't exist. But, even though you'd only be able to fly a few meters off the ground and at such a slow pace. Would you still want to fly? Because I would.
For years movies and television shows have depicted flying as a faster way to move around than walking, and that it requires hardly any effort to do. Think of Superman and Supergirl, both aliens born on the planet of Krypton. Both of them can fly with ease and they have super strength to boot. If only I could fly, I would go all over the world and meet all sorts of people. I can imagine soaring like a bird. Not only would I do things for myself but I would also help other people by saving them from falling or getting someone's grandma out of a tree. The possibilities are endless. But, is that really the truth? Well, I'm going to show you what would really happen if humans could fly without tools or machines.
To better understand flying, I will first talk about running. The world record for fastest short distance sprint speed is about 27 mph. Running speed depends on how much force is exerted by the runner's legs and according to Newton's second law of motion, force is the product of mass times acceleration. Newton's third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So when you run, your feet push off the ground and the ground pushes back, propelling you forward.
And without anything to push off of, flying is a lot like swimming. Michael Phelps is currently the fastest swimmer of all time and is the most decorated Olympian. Guess how fast he swims? His fasted recorded speed is only 5 mph. A child on the ground could easily out run Phelps in water. This is because when we run we move forward by pushing against the ground and having the ground push us back, thus propelling us forward, like I said earlier. The ground is solid so by definition it means the particles are locked into place and must push back instead of getting out of the way. Water is liquid and flows easily. And when we move our arms and legs to push the water, a part of it just moves out of the way.
Now let's move over to flying. Air has way more space to move around you then water in a pool does, so even more energy would be wasted trying to propel forward because a lot of the air would need to be pushed backward in order to move forward. Astronauts move around in zero gravity by pulling on handles and footholds placed in the shuttle.
Imagine you were given the ability to fly, how would you move around in the middle of the street? Well, you wouldn't get very far just by "swimming" in air. What if you had the ability to move around quickly? Well the ideal gas law says that as air pressure decreases, gas volume increases. So if you were to fly up too quickly, the gas in your body would rapidly expand just like the way pop does when shaken. The phenomenon is called "The Bends" a sickness divers get when they come up out of the water too fast. It could cause pain, paralysis, or even death depending on how much your blood fizzes up. Of course, if you wanted to fly just a few meters off the ground where you can still see other people and street signs, you would need to wear goggles and a helmet to protect you from bugs and anything you may hit. Remeber, if you have a collision mid-flight you will experience free fall until you hit the ground.
Flying would be a way cooler ability to have if physics didn't exist. But, even though you'd only be able to fly a few meters off the ground and at such a slow pace. Would you still want to fly? Because I would.
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