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Why Are Airplane Engines So Big?

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Publisher: MinutePhysics
The answer to this question has everything to do with drag & kinetic energy vs momentum change (thrust) ie, a bigger engine fan allows for a larger air mass to be accelerated a smaller amount to give the same thrust as you'd get from... The answer to this question has everything to do with drag & kinetic energy vs momentum change (thrust) ie, a bigger engine fan allows for a larger air mass to be accelerated a smaller amount to give the same thrust as you'd get from a smaller engine with larger acceleration. Any acceleration of air imparts energy to that air, which is in principle wasted energy, so ideally we minimize the acceleration of air while maintaining constant thrust, aka bigger engine fan. However, bigger fans have more drag, so there is an ultimate size limit.
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Media Length
1:34
Grade
12th - Higher Ed
Subjects
Science
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Media Type
Instructional Videos
Source:
MinutePhysics
Date
2016
Language
English
Audiences
For Teacher Use
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Fine Print: Educational Use

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Concepts

power, thrust, energy, speed, kinetic energy, engines, time, fiction
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Additional Tags

exhaust, jet core, engine, bigger, make, accelerating, energi, small, ideal engine, propel, efficient, physics, shoot, bigger engines, audible free, kinetic, audible, 30 days, recommend
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