AERODYNAMICS 1

REVIEW

1. Calculate the standard atmosphere values of T, p, and ρ at a

geopotential altitude of 14 km.

2. For approximate, closed-form engineering calculations of airplane

performance (Ch. 6), a simple equation for the variations of density
with altitude is useful. Denoting the standard sea-level density by ρ0 ,
an approximate exponential variation of density with altitude h can be
written as

where n is a constant. (a) Derive the value of n so that Eq. (3.15)

gives the exact density at h = 36,000 ft (11 km, which is the upper
boundary of the first gradient region shown in Fig. 3.4 ). (b) Using this
value of n , calculate the density at 5000 ft, 10,000 ft, 20,000 ft,
30,000 ft, and 40,000 ft from Eq. (3.15), and compare your results
with the exact numerical values from Appendix B.

3. In both the gradient and isothermal regions of the standard

atmosphere, the pressure decreases with an increase in altitude.
Question : Does pressure decrease faster in the gradient regions or
in the isothermal regions?

4. If an airplane is flying at an altitude where the actual pressure and

temperature are 4.72 × 10 4 N/m 2 and 255.7 K, respectively, what
are the pressure, temperature, and density altitudes?

5. The flight test data for a given airplane refer to a level-flight

maximum-velocity run made at an altitude that simultaneously
 corresponded to a pressure altitude of 30,000 ft and density altitude
of 28,500 ft. Calculate the temperature of the air at the altitude at
which the airplane was flying for the test.

6. Consider an airplane flying at some real, geometric altitude. The

outside (ambient) pressure and temperature are 5.3 × 10 4 N/m 2
and 253 K, respectively. Calculate the pressure and density altitudes
at which this airplane is flying.

7. The ambient temperature in the air ahead of an airplane in flight is

240 K. At what temperature altitude is the airplane flying?

-End-

1. At 12 km in the standard atmosphere, the pressure, density, and

temperature are 1.9399 × 10 4 N/m 2 , 3.1194 × 10 −1 kg/m 3 , and
216.66 K, respectively. Using these values, calculate the standard
atmospheric values of pressure, density, and temperature at an
altitude of 18 km, and check with the standard altitude tables.

2. Consider an airplane flying at some real altitude. The outside

pressure and temperature are 2.65 × 10 4 N/m 2 and 220 K,
respectively. What are the pressure and density altitudes?

3. During a flight test of a new airplane, the pilot radios to the ground
that she is in level flight at a standard altitude of 35,000 ft. What is the
ambient air pressure far ahead of the airplane?

4. Consider an airplane flying at a pressure altitude of 33,500 ft and a

density altitude of 32,000 ft. Calculate the outside air temperature.

5. At what value of the geometric altitude is the difference h − hG equal

to 2 percent of the geopotential altitude, h?
6. Using Toussaint’s formula, calculate the pressure at a geopotential
altitude of 5 km.

7. The atmosphere of Jupiter is essentially made up of hydrogen, H 2 .

For H 2 , the specific gas constant is 4157 J/(kg)(K). The acceleration
of gravity of Jupiter is 24.9 m/s 2 . Assuming an isothermal
atmosphere with a temperature of 150 K and assuming that Jupiter
has a definable surface, calculate the altitude above that surface
where the pressure is one-half the surface pressure.

8. An F-15 supersonic fighter aircraft is in a rapid climb. At the instant it

passes through a standard altitude of 25,000 ft, its time rate of
change of altitude is 500 ft/s, which by definition is the rate-of-climb,
discussed in Ch. 6. Corresponding to this rate-of-climb at 25,000 ft is
a time rate of change of ambient pressure. Calculate this rate of
change of pressure in units of pounds per square foot per second.

9. Assume that you are ascending in an elevator at sea level. Your

eardrums are very sensitive to minute changes in pressure. In this
case, you are feeling a 1 percent decrease in pressure per minute.
Calculate the upward speed of the elevator in meters per minute.

10. Consider an airplane flying at an altitude where the pressure and

temperature are 530 lb/ft 2 and 390°R, respectively. Calculate the
pressure and density altitudes at which the airplane is flying.

11. Consider a large rectangular tank of water open to the

atmosphere, 10 ft deep, with walls of length 30 ft each. When the
tank is filled to the top with water, calculate the force (in tons) exerted
on the side of each wall in contact with the water. The tank is located
at sea level. ( Note: The specific weight of water is 62.4 lb f /ft 3 , and
1 ton = 2000 lb f .) ( Hint: Use the hydrostatic equation.)

12. A discussion of the entry of a space vehicle into the earth’s

atmosphere after it has completed its mission in space appears in Ch.
 8. An approximate analysis of the vehicle motion and aerodynamic
heating during atmospheric entry assumes an approximate
atmospheric model called the exponential atmosphere , where the air
density variation with altitude is assumed to be

where ρ0 is the sea-level density and h is the altitude measured

above sea level. This equation is only an approximation for the
density variation with altitude throughout the whole atmosphere, but
its simple form makes it useful for approximate analyses. Using this
equation, calculate the density at an altitude of 45 km. Compare your
result with the actual value of density from the standard altitude
tables. In the preceding equation, assume that T = 240 K (a
reasonable representation for the value of the temperature between
sea level and 45 km, which you can see by scanning down the
standard atmosphere table).

13. The entries for the standard altitude in Apps. A and B are given at
distinct, regularly spaced values of h. To obtain the values of
pressure, temperature, and density at an altitude between two
adjacent entries in the table, linear interpolation can be used as an
approximation. Using the tables, obtain the pressure, density, and
temperature at a standard altitude of 3.035 km.

14. For a standard altitude of 3.035 km, calculate the exact values for
pressure, density, and temperature using the exact equations from
Sec. 3.4 in this chapter. Compare these exact values with the
approximate values obtained in Prob. 3.13.

15. Section 3.3 states that only at altitudes above 65 km does the
difference between the geometric and geopotential altitudes exceed 1
percent. Calculate the exact value of the geometric altitude at which
this difference is precisely 1 percent.
16. For the flight of airplanes in the earth’s atmosphere, the variation
of the acceleration of gravity with altitude is generally ignored. One of
the highest-flying aircraft has been the Lockheed U-2 (see Fig. 5.52)
which was designed to cruise at 70,000 ft. How much does the
acceleration of gravity at this altitude differ from the value at sea
level?

17. The X-15 hypersonic research airplane (see Fig. 5.92) set the
altitude record for airplanes on August 22, 1963, when test pilot
Joseph Walker achieved 354,200 ft. What is the acceleration of
gravity at this altitude? How much does it differ from that at sea level?

18. Toussaint’s formula was used in the early 1920s to give the
temperature variation with altitude. This was in the immediate
post-World War I period when conventional airplanes fl ew at altitudes
on the order of 10,000 ft. or lower. Compare the result for
temperature obtained from Toussaint’s formula for a geometric
altitude of 10,000 ft. with that from the standard altitude table in
Appendix B.

19. When X-15 test pilot William J. Knight set the world speed record
on October 3, 1967, his geometric altitude was 102,100 ft. Interpolate
the entries in Appendix B to obtain the standard values of
temperature, pressure, and density at this altitude.

20. The airstream in the test section of a wind tunnel is at a pressure

of 0.92 atm. When a test model is placed in the test section, what
pressure altitude is being simulated for this model?

-End-

1. Consider a convergent duct with an inlet area A1 = 5 m 2 . Air enters

this duct with a velocity V1 = 10 m/s and leaves the duct exit with a
velocity V2 = 30 m/s. What is the area of the duct exit?
2. Consider a convergent duct with an inlet area A1 = 3 ft 2 and an exit
area A2 = 2.57 ft 2 . Air enters this duct with a velocity V1 = 700 ft/s
and a density ρ1 = 0.002 slug/ft 3 , and air leaves with an exit velocity
V2 = 1070 ft/s. Calculate the density of the air ρ2 at the exit.

3. Consider an airfoil (the cross section of a wing, as shown in Fig. 4.7 )

in a flow of air, where far ahead (upstream) of the airfoil, the pressure,
velocity, and density are 2116 lb/ft 2 , 100 mi/h, and 0.002377 slug/ft
3 , respectively. At a given point A on the airfoil, the pressure is 2070
lb/ft 2 . What is the velocity at point A?

4. Consider the same convergent duct and conditions as in Example

4.1. If the air pressure and temperature at the inlet are p1 = 1.2 × 10
5 N/m 2 and T1 = 330 K, respectively, calculate the pressure at the
exit.

5. Consider a long dowel with a semicircular cross section, as sketched

in Fig. 4.8 a . The dowel is immersed in a flow of air, with its axis
perpendicular to the flow, as shown in perspective in Fig. 4.8 a . The
rounded section of the dowel is facing into the flow, as shown in Fig.
4.8 a and 4.8 b . We call this rounded section the front face of the
dowel. The radius of the semicircular cross section is R = 0.5 ft. The
velocity of the flow far ahead of the dowel (called the free stream ) is
V∞ = 100 ft/s. Assume inviscid flow; that is, neglect the effect of
friction. The velocity of the flow along the surface of the rounded front
face of the dowel is a function of location on the surface; location is
denoted by angle θ in Fig. 4.8 b . Hence, along the front rounded
surface, V = V (θ ). This variation is given by
 The pressure distribution exerted over the surface of the cross
section is sketched in Fig. 4.8 c . On the front face, p varies with
location along the surface, where the location is denoted by the angle
θ; that is, p = p (θ ) on the front face. On the flat back face, the
pressure, denoted by pB , is constant. The back face pressure is
given by

where p∞ and ρ∞ are the pressure and density, respectively, in the

free stream, far ahead of the dowel. The free-stream density is given
as ρ∞ = 0.002378 slug/ft 3 . Calculate the aerodynamic force exerted
by the surface pressure distribution (illustrated in Fig. 4.8 c ) on a 1-ft
segment of the dowel, shown by the shaded section in Fig. 4.8 a .

6. Calculate the internal energy and enthalpy, per unit mass, for air at
standard sea-level conditions in ( a ) SI units and ( b ) English
engineering units. For air at standard conditions, cv = 720 J/(kg)(K) =
4290 ft · lb/(slug)(°R), and cp = 1008 J/(kg)(K) = 6006 ft · lb/
(slug)(°R).

7. Consider air inside a cylinder, with a piston at the top of the cylinder.
The internal energy of the air inside the cylinder is 4 × 10 5 J. The
piston moves into the cylinder by a distance sufficient to do 2 × 10 5 J
of work on the system. At the same time, 6 × 10 5 J of heat are
added to the system. Calculate the internal energy of the air after the
work is done and the heat added.

8. An airplane is flying at standard sea-level conditions. The

temperature at a point on the wing is 250 K. What is the pressure at
this point?

9. In a rocket engine, the fuel and oxidizer are burned in the combustion
chamber, and then the hot gas expands through a nozzle to high
velocity at the exit of the engine. (Jump ahead and see the sketch of
 a rocket engine nozzle in Fig. 4.32 .) The fl ow through the rocket
engine nozzle downstream of the combustion chamber is isentropic.
Consider the case when the pressure and temperature of the burned
gas in the combustion chamber are 20 atm and 3500 K, respectively.
If the pressure of the gas at the exit of the nozzle is 0.5 atm, calculate
the gas temperature at the exit. Note: The combustion gas is not air,
so the value for γ will be different than for air; that is, γ will not be
equal to 1.4. For the combustion gas in this example, γ = 1.15.

10. A cylinder with a piston moving inside the cylinder, as considered

in Example 4.7, is the basic power-producing mechanism in the
reciprocating engine found in most automobiles and in many small
general aviation aircraft. The basic principle of the reciprocating
engine is described in Sec. 9.3, and the elements of a four-stroke
engine cycle are sketched in Fig. 9.11. Without being concerned with
the details (you will be able to digest and enjoy the details when you
study Ch. 9), just note that the four strokes are intake, compression,
power, and exhaust. In particular, examine Fig. 9.11 b , which
illustrates the compression stroke. At the beginning of the
compression stroke, the piston is at the bottom of the cylinder, and
the cylinder is full of the gas–air mixture. Denote the volume of this
mixture by V2 . When the piston has moved its maximum distance
toward the top of the cylinder at the end of the compression stroke,
the volume of the gas–air mixture above the piston is V3 . By
definition, in an internal combustion engine, the all-important
compression ratio is V2 / V3 . Consider the case where the fuel–air
mixture has been brought into the cylinder at standard sea-level
conditions during the intake stroke. The design compression ratio is
10. Calculate the pressure and temperature of the gas–air mixture in
the cylinder at the end of the compression stroke, assuming that the
compression process takes place isentropically. Because most of the
mixture is air and very little is fuel (typical fuel-to-air ratios by mass
are 0.05), it is safe to assume a value of γ = 1.4.
11. A supersonic wind tunnel is sketched in Fig. 4.32 . The air
temperature and pressure in the reservoir of the wind tunnel are T0 =
1000 K and p0 = 10 atm, respectively. The static temperatures at the
throat and exit are T * = 833 K and Te = 300 K, respectively. The
mass flow through the nozzle is 0.5 kg/s. For air, cp = 1008 J/(kg)(K).
Calculate:
a. The velocity at the throat V*
b. The velocity at the exit Ve
c. The area of the throat A*
d. The are of the exit Ae

12. Consider an airfoil in a flow of air, where far ahead of the airfoil
(the free stream), the pressure, velocity, and density are 2116 lb/ft 2,
500 mi/h, and 0.002377 slug/ft 3 , respectively. At a given point A on
the airfoil, the pressure is 1497 lb/ft 2 . What is the velocity at point A
? Assume isentropic flow. For air, cp = 6006 ft · lb/(slug)(°R).

13. Consider the Space Shuttle (see Figs. 2.24, 8.6, and 8.48) as it
returns to earth after completing a mission in orbit. At a point on its
entry path through the atmosphere, its velocity is 6.4 km/sec at an
altitude of 60 km. At some point on the bottom surface, near the nose
of the shuttle, the flow velocity is zero. This point is defined as a
stagnation point . The stagnation point is usually the location of
maximum temperature in the flow. The flow along the streamline that
comes from the free stream and goes through the stagnation point is
called the stagnation streamline. The flow along this streamline, as
well as throughout the flow field, is adiabatic; no outside mechanism
adds or takes away heat from a fluid element moving along the
streamline. (The only exception is when the temperature of the fluid
element becomes so hot that it loses significant energy by radiation,
but this phenomenon is not important in the atmospheric reentry of
the Space Shuttle.) Assuming a constant specific heat of c p = 1008
J/(kg)(K), calculate the temperature of the air at the stagnation point.
(How reasonable is the assumption of constant specific heat for this
problem? We will discuss this matter at the end of the example.)
14. The author and his wife had the joy of flying in the Anglo-French
Concorde Supersonic Transport (SST) from New York to London (a
flight that took only three hours compared to the more than six hours
in a conventional subsonic jet transport). The SST cruised at a
velocity of 1936 ft/s at an altitude of 50,000 ft. Calculate the
stagnation temperature for the SST at cruise, assuming a constant
specific heat for air of 6006 ft lb/(slug)( o R). (The concept of
stagnation temperature was introduced in Example 4.13.)

15. Consider a flow with heat addition, that is, a nonadiabatic flow.
Derive the energy equation for such a flow.

16. Consider the combustion chamber (burner) in a turbojet engine.

The elements of a turbojet are discussed in Sec. 9.5, and the
combustion chamber is illustrated schematically in Figs. 9.16, 9.18,
and 9.19. (It is worth your while to flip over to these figures for a few
moments before you proceed further with this example.) Consider the
case where air, having passed through the compressor, enters the
combustor at a temperature of 1200 ° R. As it flows through the
combustor, heat is added per unit mass in the amount of 2.1 × 10 7 ft
lb/slug. The flow velocity at the entrance to the combustor is 300 ft/s,
and decreases to 200 ft/s at the exit of the combustor. Calculate the
temperature of the flow at the exit, assuming constant specific heat c
p = 6006 ft lb/(slug)( ° R).

17. A jet transport is flying at a standard altitude of 30,000 ft with a

velocity of 550 mi/h. What is its Mach number?

18. In the nozzle flow described in Example 4.11 , calculate the Mach
number of the fl ow at the throat, M *, and at the exit, Me.

19. Consider a vehicle moving at a velocity of 1000 m/s through (a) air,
and (b) hydrogen. The molecular weight (mass) of diatonic hydrogen
is 2 kg/(kg mole). Calculate the Mach number of the vehicle in (a) air,
 and (b) hydrogen. Comment on the implication of the results.

20. In a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel, one side of a mercury

manometer is connected to the settling chamber (reservoir) and the
other side is connected to the test section. The contraction ratio of the
nozzle A2 / A1 equals 1 15 . The reservoir pressure and temperature
are p1 = 1.1 atm and T1 = 300 K, respectively. When the tunnel is
running, the height difference between the two columns of mercury is
10 cm. The density of liquid mercury is 1.36 × 10 4 kg/m 3 . Calculate
the airflow velocity in the test section V2.

21. Referring to Fig. 4.15 , consider a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel

designed with a reservoir cross-sectional area A1 = 2 m 2 and a
test-section cross-sectional area A2 = 0.5 m 2 . The pressure in the
test section is p2 = 1 atm. Assume constant density equal to standard
sea-level density. ( a ) Calculate the pressure required in the
reservoir, p1 , necessary to achieve a flow velocity V2 = 40 m/s in the
test section. ( b ) Calculate the mass flow through the wind tunnel.

22. For the wind tunnel in Example 4.21 , ( a ) if the pressure

difference ( p1 − p2 ) is doubled, calculate the flow velocity in the test
section. ( b ) The ratio A1 / A2 is defined as the contraction ratio for
the wind tunnel nozzle. If the contraction ratio is doubled, keeping the
same pressure difference as in Example 4.21 , calculate the flow
velocity in the test section.

23. The altimeter on a low-speed Cessna 150 private aircraft reads

5000 ft. By an independent measurement, the outside air temperature
is 505°R. If a Pitot tube mounted on the wing tip measures a pressure
of 1818 lb/ft 2 , what is the true velocity of the airplane? What is the
equivalent airspeed?

24. In a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel with a closed test section (

Fig. 4.20 a ), a static pressure tap on the wall of the tunnel test
section measures 0.98 atm. The temperature of the air in the test
 section is 80 ° F. A Pitot tube is inserted in the middle of the flow in
the test section in order to measure the flow velocity. The pressure
measured by the Pitot tube is 2200 lb/ft 2 . Calculate the flow velocity
in the test section.

25. Consider a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel with an open test

section ( Fig. 4.20 b ). The ambient pressure in the room is 1 atm,
and the temperature of the air in the test section is 15 o C. A Pitot
tube is mounted in the test section. The tunnel is turned on, and the
air velocity in the test section is adjusted to be 110 m/sec. What is the
subsequent reading from the Pitot tube?

26. An airplane is flying at sea level at a speed of 100 m/s. Calculate

the free-stream dynamic pressure and total pressure.

27. A high-speed subsonic McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 airliner is flying

at a pressure altitude of 10 km. A Pitot tube on the wing tip measures
a pressure of 4.24 × 10 4 N/m 2 . Calculate the Mach number at
which the airplane is flying. If the ambient air temperature is 230 K,
calculate the true airspeed and the calibrated airspeed.

28. Consider an F-80 ( Fig. 4.24 ) flying at 594 mph at standard sea
level. (This is the maximum speed of the F-80C at sea level.)
Calculate the pressure and temperature at the stagnation point on the
nose of the airplane.

29. At a given point in a flow field of air, the Mach number, velocity,
and density are 0.9, 300 m/s, and 1.2 kg/m 3 , respectively. Calculate
at this point (a) the total pressure, and (b) the dynamic pressure.

30. An experimental rocket-powered aircraft is fl ying at a velocity of

3000 mi/h at an altitude where the ambient pressure and temperature
are 151 lb/ft 2 and 390°R, respectively. A Pitot tube is mounted in the
nose of the aircraft. What is the pressure measured by the Pitot tube?
31. Consider the F-102A shown in Fig. 4.29 . The airplane is fl ying at
a supersonic speed at a standard altitude of 8 km. The pressure
measured by the Pitot tube is 9.27 × 10 4 N/m 2 . At what Mach
number is the airplane flying?

32. Consider the isentropic flow over the airfoil sketched in Fig. 4.30 .
The free-stream pressure, velocity, and density are 2116 lb/ft 2 , 500
mi/h, and 0.002377 slug/ft 3 , respectively. At a given point A on the
airfoil, the pressure is 1497 lb/ft 2 . What are the Mach number and
the velocity at point A ?

33. You are given the job of designing a supersonic wind tunnel that
has a Mach 2 flow at standard sea-level conditions in the test section.
What reservoir pressure and temperature and what area ratio Ae / At
are required to obtain these conditions?

34. The reservoir temperature and pressure of a supersonic wind

tunnel are 600°R and 10 atm, respectively. The Mach number of the
flow in the test section is 3. A blunt-nosed model like that shown at
the left in Fig. 4.28 b is inserted in the test section flow.

35. In the combustion chamber of a rocket engine, kerosene and

oxygen are burned, resulting in a hot, high-pressure gas mixture in
the combustion chamber with the following conditions and properties:
T0 = 3144 K, p0 = 20 atm, R = 378 J/(kg)(K), and γ = 1.26. The
pressure at the exit of the rocket nozzle is 1 atm, and the throat area
of the nozzle is 0.1 m 2 . Assuming isentropic flow through the rocket
nozzle, calculate ( a ) the velocity at the exit and ( b ) the mass flow
through the nozzle.

36. A supersonic wind tunnel is sketched in Fig. 4.35 ; this includes

not only the convergent– divergent nozzle sketched in Fig. 4.32 , but
also a constant-area test section downstream of the nozzle, and a
convergent–divergent supersonic diffuser downstream of the test
section. The function of the supersonic diffuser is to slow the
 supersonic flow from the test section to a relatively benign low-speed
subsonic flow at the exit of the diffuser. A supersonic wind tunnel has
two locations where a local minimum cross-sectional area exists. In
Fig. 4.35 , location 1 in the nozzle is called the first throat , with area
At,1 . Shock waves occur at the entrance to the diffuser, as sketched
in Fig. 4.35 , and the flow Mach number is progressively reduced as
the flow passes through these shock waves. Also, because the total
pressure decreases across a shock wave, as described in Section
4.11.3, there is a net loss of total pressure in the diffuser upstream of

the second throat. As a result

of this total pressure loss, the second throat area, At,2 , must be
larger than the first throat area, At,1 . Prove this statement by
deriving an equation for the ratio At,2 / At,1 as a function of total
pressure at the second throat, po2 , and total pressure at the first
throat, po1. Assume locally sonic flow at both locations.

37. Consider a supersonic wind tunnel as sketched in Fig. 4.35 . The

reservoir pressure is 5 atm. The area of the first throat (location 1 in
Fig. 4.35 ) is 100 cm 2 . The static pressure measured at a pressure
tap in the wall of the second throat (location 2 in Fig. 4.35 ) is 0.87
atm. The local Mach number at the second throat is Mt,2 = 1.
Calculate the area of the second throat, A t,2 .

-Ends just before pg. 245, 4.14 Discussion of Compressibility, John D.

Anderson Introduction to Flight-