What Is The Coanda Effect?

The flow of gases is subject to a great many "effects" which have been observed and
documented over the years.
In many cases, the person responsible for making the first observations of a particular effect has
their name attributed to it and then they become
famous -- albeit only amongst those who are
interested in such things.
One such effect is that observed and documented by
a Romamanian by the name of Henri-Marie Coanda
in the 1930s.
Coanda noted that a stream of fluid or gas will tend to hug a convex contour when directed at a
tangent to that surface.
You can check this out for yourself by turning on a tap, so that there's a steady but gentle
continuous stream of water flowing. Now bring the back of a spoon into slight contact with the
stream and you'll find that the water will no longer fall straight down but actually stick to the
curve of the spoon.
This rather unintuitive behavior is the Coanda effect in action.
It's pretty easy to understand why a flow would be deflected by a concave curve -- the curve will
"push" the flow around the corner -- but isn't it odd that the flow seems to be pulled by a curved
surface?
My own experiments indicate that a single curved surface will deflect a gasflow by a maximum
of about 90 degrees -- after which the flow detaches itself from the curve and travels at a
tangent to that curve.

How Can This Be Used In A Pulsejet?

Like all seemingly unnatural behaviors, the Coanda effect has been put to good use in a number
of applications.
Indeed, some of the gasflows within my X-Jet engine rely on the Coanda effect so I thought I'd
have a think about how the same effect could be applied to more traditional pulsejet engines.

Here's what I've come up with:

The Combustion Phase

What we have here is a possible valveless pulsejet design using the Coanda effect to
significantly reduce the tendency for combustion gases to travel up the intake tube.
When the air-fuel ignites, some of the hot gases travel out the tailpipe through the expected
route -- but those which would be expected to travel out the intake tube (the left-most arrows)
are subjected to the Coanda effect produced by the curved path at the mouth of that internal
tube.

These gases are further coerced down the tailpipe by another of these great "effects" first
observed by (and named after) Mr Bernoulli. Because the gases which enter the tailpipe through
the outermost path are travelling very fast, they produce a low-pressure area at the right-hand
end of that internal tube. The flow entering the front of the internal tube is thus further
encouraged to exit through the rear of the engine thanks to this area of low-pressure.
Now, let's see what happens during the intake phase of the engine's operation.

The Intake Phase

The incoming air is deflected towards the outside path by way of the diamond shape in the
middle of the intake tube.
Note that the diamond shape has sharp edges, not curves. If we made this a nicely curved
shape then the Coanda effect would work against us by pulling the incoming air back towards
the center of the internal tube. By using a sharp edge, the flow will separate and virtually all of it
will travel outwards and into the combustion area.

However, because a vortex will form on the back-side of this diamond, a small amount of the
incoming air will travel into the internal tube -- but that's not going to be a problem because it will
simply become extra mass for the engine to eject later.
The fuel will be injected at the point where the incoming air passes over the circle at the front of
the combustion area.
When the fresh air-fuel mixture ignites, the whole cycle repeats again.

Will It Work?
Now all this looks fine on paper (or a webpage) but will it work as planned?
To be honest -- I don't know, I haven't built it yet.
Based on my experience with the design of pulsejets I'd have to say that there's probably a devil
in the detail.
The precise angles and radius of the curves involved need to be established by a little
calculation and much empirical work, but I see no reason why the basic theory won't hold up.
Now this isn't going to stop all the hot gases from trying to exit through the intake tube -- no
valveless system can actually do that but I hope that it could provide enough flow control to
allow such an engine to provide a good measure of static thrust.
The advantage of not bending the engine in half and facing the intake in the same direction as
the exhaust is that you can then take much more advantage of ram-effect to increase the power
of such an engine when it is operating at high speed.

The "Coanda Effect"

History of The "Coanda Effect"

I came across this device recently and hope you find it interesting also

In 1910 a young Romanian born engineer named Henri Coanda tested a plane
he had built powered by the worlds first jet engine of which he was the
inventor. The engine was not a Turbo jet which was later invented by Frank
Whittle and Von Ohain, but had a gasoline engine driven centrifugal
compressor, a combustion chamber and nozzle.
Coanda placed metal plates between the hot jet gases and the plywood
fuselage. However instead of deflecting the jet away it deflected it onto the
plates, ran along them and set his plane alight. Fascinated, he failed to notice
he was approaching a wall at high speed until the last second, pulled back on
the stick, became airborne enough to clear the wall, crashed and was thrown
clear to watch his plane go up in flames.
More than 20 years later he came to understand precisely the phenomenon
which was named after him, the "Coanda Effect".
Coanda jets are generated by blowing a moderate to high pressure gas (such
as air) or liquid through a narrow slot over a surface which in some cases may
be convexly curved.
The jet runs tangent to the surface and can circulate around 180 bends. This
we call the primary jet. Our patentable methods are able to cause the jet to
recirculate around 360.

The Coanda jets are never laminar like the flow over an aircraft wing or fan
blade. The jets are always highly turbulent. The jet is composed of myriads of
localised eddy currents. The speed of the air in the swirling or rotating
currents is far higher than the linear velocity of the whole jet stream itself.
Pressure is related to speed as you are now aware of. A round jet issuing from
a nozzle entrains ambient air due to its high velocity lowering its pressure
which attracts the ambient air by collision and entrapment of molecules.
Coanda jets are ejected from slots and then traverse a hard surface or wall.
They are sometimes called a wall jet. This wall after the slot creates a nonsymmetrical nozzle.
The velocity of the jet immediately evacuates the molecules between it and
the wall. This low pressure region cannot be relieved by ambient inflow as
ambient air is on the other side of the jet and so the jet quickly deflects
toward and runs tangent to the wall. The average pressure across a Coanda
jet is lower than the average pressure across an unbounded round jet.
This means that the average velocity at any point in the Coanda jet is higher
than in a conventional jet at the same distance from the slot. It follows then

that the pressure is lower at any comparable distance from the slot and the
momentum and mass flow are higher at the same points.

Flow augmentation by entrainment of ambient air is also greater than with a

conventional jet because of the pressure gradient caused by the proximity of
the hard surface (the wall) tangent to the jet and this is a more efficient
means of momentum transfer than mere molecular collision and entrapment as
with conventional jets.

The Coanda Effect

The "Coanda Effect" is a fascinating, powerful phenomenon that has been
lying almost unused for decades waiting to be exploited commercially. The
new "Jet-Fan" now makes it possible to revive the effect in domestic and
industrial applications.

Some good quality higher pressure fans and

applications over which the new "Jet-Fan" gives
superior performance are:-

Turbine compressors (as in jet engines),

Computer chip cooling fans.
Ducting for air-conditioning,
Vacuum Cleaners
Ventilation in buildings,
Superchargers for racing cars, aircraft and trucks.
Lift and drive fans for Hovercraft
Ducted fans for aircraft

Jet boats

Water pumps for industry, agriculture and automotive

Large mine and power station ventilation and cooling
Radiator fans
Exotic new devices impossible or impractical before the "Jet-Fan".

The main advantages of the "Jet-Fan" are:It is stall free.

It does not require a diffuser or stator blades to realise a pressure gain.
It is more efficient over a wider speed range.
It delivers relatively high pressure air at a high flow rate with high efficiency
with no surging and delivers it axially through a nozzle.

To achieve this the main differences are:The blades converge, unlike other fans (Average 6% to 10%)
The "Jet-Fan" does not rotate airfoil blades around but rather rotates
convergent passageways ie. each two blades define a passageway.
It has far more blades than a conventional fan.
All blades overlap each other.
It has blades that are much shorter and angled to the axis of rotation.

The new "Jet-Fan" is an entirely new concept.

The gap created by the convergent blades can change during runs.
Each blade has a spigot which extends into a bore in the hub which is aimed
at the imaginary dead centre of a sphere which the hub is sliced from. (It has
a spherical hub and shroud.) Because high pressure fans tend to leak air back
the wrong direction the "Jet-Fan" employs a spherical hub and the blade roots
touch the hub for their full length preventing back-flow. The inside of the
shroud also has the same spherical aspect which shares the same dead
centre as the hub. In this way back-flow near the blade tips is prevented and
as all blades overlap significantly any air return is minimised and in fact over
almost all its speed and pressure range back-flow is prevented entirely.
When the blades change pitch during runs the blade roots always remain
touching the hub and the infinitesimal gap between the blade tips and shroud
is not altered.

The basic idea of the "Jet-Fan" is very simple.

Blade speed in all fans, especially the centrifugal fans compresses air to some
extent. This compression is inevitable and is detrimental to performance as it
can cause blade stall by air circulating around the trailing edges. In addition,
the air must expand to the average low pressure as it joins the higher speed,
lower pressure flow at the trailing edges, subsequently it must have its
pressure raised again as it is decelerated through the diffuser or stators.
These pressure fluctuations decrease efficiency.
The "Jet-Fan" relies on the fact that the air will be compressed by blade speed
just as in all conventional fans but in the case of the "Jet-Fan" the pressure
generated is retained without re-expansion.
Blade pitch is configured to maximise compression (with liquids the pressure
rises but liquids do not compress).
The blade dynamic pressure on the air can tend to rise by the square as the air
is swept further out and so the blades are given a decreasing radius toward
the trailing edges to ease the pressure within the passageways. This is to
prevent back-flow along the passageways.

In addition the decreasing radius converges the blades and therefore each
passageway that each pair of blades define is reduced in volume.
There is therefore a step-down in volume between the blades.
Significant useful pressure is generated by blade speed. The pressure
increases by the square of the blade speed increase.
The passageway therefore along its length merely progressively conforms to
the lesser space the compressed air occupies and the air is discharged in a
pressurised state.
In practice the pressure within the discharge apertures is found to be identical
to that immediately aft of the blades and before the air straighteners.
This avoids the abrupt pressure fluctuations found with other fans, the
pressure being generated once only and maintained and this avoids the use of
a diffuser or stators.
As system resistance increases due to a variable choke in some applications
such as ducted fans, or jet boats the fan speed is increased and blades are
brought closer together to postpone the stall.

How the "Jet Fan" Solves the problem

The new "Jet-Fan" is able to produce the same high pressures required for all
the applications listed but without the need for a diffuser or stators.
That pressure is delivered immediately from between the fan trailing edges.
This feat is achieved by the blade convergence of the "Jet-Fan" which is unlike
any other fan.
What all of this means is that the new "Jet-Fan" is able to perform all of the
applications listed and many more, better than existing conventional fans.
In addition to producing high pressure air or liquids the "Jet-Fan" has several
extra features giving it even more advantages over other fans.
The new "Jet-Fan" has blades that are arranged about a hub that is a slice
taken from a true sphere. The blades extend into bores aimed at the imaginary
dead centre. This enables the degree of blade convergence (the blade pitch)
to be changed during runs. This enables the fan to maintain high pressure and
efficiency over a wider RPM range and pressure duty than conventional fans.
The new "Jet-Fan" is also able to do this in very small versions, an
achievement not seen before. This means that the existing applications
already listed can be performed better by "Jet-Fans" as they are more efficient
with higher pressures in smaller diameters and do not require the excess
baggage, (diffusers or stators).
Tiny "Jet-Fans" are more efficient than existing computer fans which are
normally only around 1% to 5% efficient. Marine And Aviation Transportation

Hovercraft require high volume air flow at moderate pressures. The "Jet Fan"
can provide higher pressure when needed such as in heavy seas as it does not
stall due to fluctuating back pressure, and it also occupies less space.

To whom it may concern,

The LMB Company welcomes the partnership we sealed in January with the
Australian JET FAN Technology Company. We are looking forward to
developing further the JET FAN for our market in association with Mr Terry
Day, and to help him produce specific prototypes for other markets as well.
We have started our JET FAN R & D eight month program and will be very
pleased to reveal these results, graphics and prototypes during the next
military EUROSTATORY International Expo in Paris in June 1996.
All genuine enquiries for fan production for the Defence and Avionics market
(such as cooling systems and air-conditioning in cells, cockpits, shelters) and
for Medical and Transportation market s (such as air-conditioning and airrenewal in buses, tramways, trains, subways, etc....) can be addressed to:

Mr Chapalain / LMB Director

36 Ave Curie - Malemort
FRANCE
Fax: 33 55 92 29 00
Currently, LMB on behalf of JET FAN Technology is developing a computer
designing software package for these applications. The first JET FANS are
expected to be in production in the second half of 1996.
LMB is happy to have this statement published in future JET FAN Technology
brochures and will consider seriously any JET FAN production enquiries
concerning our specific market.
If you need further information please let me know.
Rene Chapalain
Managing Director

Interview with Terry Day

Is it noisy?
No. Noise from a fan is due to air turbulence. The "Jet Fan" drives high
pressure air into a high pressure area. This makes it much quieter than other
fans.
Is It Expensive to buy?
No. It will be no more expensive than the present day conventional fans it
replaces. It may be less expensive due to it's smaller size and not needing a
diffuser.
Will electric motor manufacturers be resistant due to higher speed
requirements?

No. Almost all applications require no motor changes at all. Only a very few
situations where a brushless electric motor is required for noise
considerations will a one stage gearbox be needed to increase fan speed.
Will manufacturers resist change due to expensive plant changes?
No. Although the "Jet Fan" is a vast improvement over todays conventional
fans, it is still after all only a fan from a manufacturing viewpoint.
With spherical hubs, shrouds and moveable blades, surely it is more complex
and therefore more difficult to produce?
No. The more complex versions are for more exotic, high stress or special
situations, mainly transportational, where pressures and thrust requirements
change from second to second.
90% of applications including household ones need no speed change. The
blade convergence is matched to the fan speed and the blades are an integral
part of the hub and are cast or moulded in one piece as with other fans.
Will it be expensive to run?
No. The "Jet Fan" gives higher efficiency than other fans of the same size. In
other words it uses less electrical power or fuel than others to do the same
job.
Is there a lot more research and development needed before the fan is ready
to licence to manufacturers?
No. Most applications of the fan are ready now. The pressure versus flow rate,
the pressure being developed between the blades and the high efficiency in
very small sizes, have all been proven. The "Jet Fan" is ready for
manufacturing now.
The more complex versions including multi-staging as a compressor need more
development time. We believe this period will not be long.
Is its high speed dangerous or a disadvantage?

No. We have not run it as fast as many conventional domestic vacuum cleaner
fans yet.
What is the reaction from the engineers to such a simple improvement?
We have had many fan engineers and other technical people witness our fan
demonstration test runs. We have had no negativity and only great enthusiasm
from all.
What does buying or using an appliance with the "Jet Fan" mean to the
average consumer?
The consumers work will be more efficient thus saving time and money. It also
means a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels for the production of
electricity to supply appliances. The reduction of fossil fuel consumption will
have a positive effect on green house gas emissions and the environment.

MODELAIRPLANES,THE
BERNOULLIEQUATION,ANDTHE
COANDAEFFECT1994byJefRaskin
"Inaerodynamics,theoryiswhatmakes
theinvisibleplain.Tryingtoflyan
airplanewithouttheoryislikegetting
intoafistfightwithapoltergeist."
DavidThornburg[1992].
"Thatwehavewrittenanequationdoes
notremovefromtheflowoffluidsits
charmormysteryoritssurprise."
RichardFeynman[1964]
INTRODUCTION
Asoundtheoreticalunderstandingoflift
hadbeenachievedwithintwodecadesof
theWrightbrothers'firstflight
(Prandtl'sworkwasmostinfluential1),
butthemostcommonexplanationoflift
seeninelementarytextsandpopular
articlestodayis

The common explanation, from The Way Things Work[Macaulay 1988]

Thereasoningthoughincompleteisbasedonthe
Bernoullieffect,whichcorrectlycorrelatesthe
increasedspeedwithwhichairmovesoverasurface
andtheloweredairpressuremeasuredatthatsurface.
Infact,mostairplanewingsdohaveconsiderablymore
curvatureonthetopthanthebottom,lendingcredence
tothisexplanation.But,evenasachild,Ifound
thatitpresentedmewithapuzzle:howcanaplane
flyinverted(upsidedown).WhenI
1LudwigPrandtl(18751953),aGermanphysicist,oftencalledthe"fatherof

aerodynamics."Hisfamousbookonthetheoryofwings,Tragfl
geltheorie,waspublishedin1918.
1

pressedmy6thgradescienceteacheronthis
question,hejustgotmad,deniedthatplanes
couldflyinvertedandtriedtocontinuehis
lecture.Iwasveryfrustratedandargueduntil
hesaid,"Shutup,Raskin!"Iwillrelatewhat
happenednextlaterinthisessay.
AfewyearslaterIcarriedoutacalculation
accordingtoanaiveinterpretationofthecommon
explanationofhowawingworks.Usingdatafrom
amodelairplaneIfoundthatthecalculatedlift
wasonly2%ofthatneededtoflythemodel.[See
Appendix1forthecalculation].Giventhat
Bernoulli'sequationiscorrect(indeed,itisa
formofthelawofconservationofenergy),Iwas
leftwithmyoriginalquestionunanswered:where
doestheliftcomefrom?
Inthenextfewsectionswelookatattemptsto
explaintworelatedphenomenawhatmakesa
spinningballcurveandhowawing'sshape
influencesliftandseehowthecommon
explanationoflifthasledasurprisingnumber
ofscientists(includingsomefamousones)
astray.
THESPINNINGBALL
Thepathofaballspinningaroundavertical
axisandmovingforwardthroughtheairis
deflectedtotherightortheleftofastraight
path.Experimentshowsthatthiseffectdepends
bothonthefactitisspinningandthatitis
immersedinafluid(air).Nonspinningballsor
spinningballsinavacuumgostraight.You
might,beforegoingon,wanttodecidefor
yourselfwhichwayaballspinning
counterclockwise(whenseenfromabove)will
turn.
Let'sseewhatfivebookssayaboutthisproblem.

Threearebyphysicists,oneisastandard
referencework,andthelast,justforkicks,is
fromabookbymyson'ssoccercoach.We'llstart
withphysicistJamesTrefil,whowrites[Trefil
1984],
BeforeleavingtheBernoullieffect,I'dliketo
pointoutonemoreareawhereitsconsequences
shouldbeexplored,andthatisthesomewhat
unexpectedactivityofabaseball.Consider,if
youwill,thecurveball.Thisparticularpitch
isthrownsothattheballspinsaroundanaxis
asitmovesforward,asshowninthetopin
figure114.Becausethesurfaceoftheballis
rough,theeffectofviscousforcesistocreate
athinlayerofairwhichrotateswiththe
surface.Lookingatthediagram,weseethatthe
airatthepointlabeledAwillbemovingfaster
thanthetheairatthepointlabeledB,because
inthefirstcasethemotionoftheball's
surfaceisaddedtotheball'soverallvelocity,
whileintheseconditissubtracted.Theeffect,
thenisa'lift'force,whichtendstomovethe
ballinthedirectionshown.2

2Thesurfaceroughnessisnotessential.Theeffectisobservednomatterhow

smooththeball.
2

Trefil's figure 11-4. It does not agree with some other sources.
Baseballaficionadoswouldsaythattheballcurves
towardthirdbase.Trefilthenshowsadiagramof
afastball,shownasdeflectingdownwardwhen
spinningsothatthebottomoftheballis
rotatingforward.Itisthesamephenomenonwith
theaxisofrotationshifted90degrees.
InThePhysicsofBaseball,RobertK.Adair[Adair
1990]imaginesaballthrowntowardhomeplate,so
thatitrotatescounterclockwiseasseenfrom
aboveasinTrefil'sdiagram.Totheleftofthe
pitcherisfirstbase,tohisrightisthirdbase.
Adairwrites:
Wecanthenexpecttheairpressureonthethird
base
sideoftheball,whichistravellingfaster
throughthe
air,tobegreaterthanthepressureontheonthe
firstbaseside,whichistravellingmoreslowly,
and
theballwillbedeflectedtowardfirstbase.This
isexactlytheoppositeofTrefil'sconclusion
thoughtheyagreethatthesidespinningforward
ismovingfasterthroughtheair.Wehavelearned
fromthesetwosourcesthatgoingfasterthrough
theaireitherincreasesordecreasesthepressure

onthatside.Iwon'ttakesidesinthisargument
asyet.
TheEncyclopediaBrittanica[1979]givesan
explanationwhichintroducestheconceptofdrag
intothediscussion.
"Thedragofthesideoftheballturningintothe
air
(intothedirectiontheballistravelling)
retardsthe
airflow,whereasontheothersidethedragspeeds
up
theairflow.Greaterpressureonthesidewhere
the
airflowissloweddownforcestheballinthe
direction
ofthelowpressureregionontheoppositeside,
wherea
relativeincreaseinairflowoccurs."
Nowwehavereadthatspinningtheballcausesthe
airtomoveeitherfasterorslowerpasttheside
spinningforward,andthatfastermovingair
increasesordecreasesthepressure,dependingon
theauthorityyouchoosetofollow.Speakingof
authority,it
3

mightbeappropriatetoturntooneofthe
giantsofphysicsofthiscentury,Richard
Feynman.HetakesthesideofTrefil,andusesa
cylinderratherthanasphere[Feynmanet.al.
1964.Italicsaretheirs.Theliftforce
referredtoisshownpointingupwards.]:
"Theflowvelocityishigherontheupperside
ofa
cylinder[shownrotatingsothatitstopis
movingin
thesamedirectionasitsforwardtravel]than
onthe
lowerside.Thepressuresarethereforeloweron
the
uppersidethanonthelowerside.Sowhenwe
havea
combinationofacirculationaroundacylinder
andanet
horizontalflow,thereisanetvertical
forceonthe
cylinderitiscalledaliftforce."
Nowformyson'scoach'sbook.Thecoachin
thiscaseistheworldclasssoccerplayer,
GeorgeLamptey.Thereisalmostnotheory
given,butwecanbereasonablysurethat
Lampteyhasrepeatedlytriedtheexperimentand
shouldthereforereportthedirectiontheball
turnscorrectly.Hewrites[Lamptey1985]:
"Thebananakickismoreorlessanoffcenter
instep
drivekickwhichaddsaspintothesoccer
ball.Kick
offcentertotheright,thesoccerballcurves
tothe
left.Kickoffcentertotheleft,thesoccer
ball

curvestotheright...Theamountthesoccer
ballcurves
dependsonthespeedofthespin."

Lamptey,likeAdair,hasthehighpressureon
thesidemovingintotheair.Iwillnotrelate
moreaccounts,somehavingtheballswerveone
way,sometheother.Someexplanationsdependon
theauthor'sinterpretationoftheBernoulli
effect,someonviscosity,someondrag,someon
turbulence.
Wewillreturntothesubjectofspinningballs,
butwearenotyetfinishedfindingproblems
withthecommonexplanationoflift.
OTHERPARADOXES
Thecommonexplanationofhowawingworksleads

ustoconclude,forexample,thatawingwhich
issomewhatconcaveonthebottom,oftencalled
an"undercambered"wing,willalwaysgenerate
lesslift(underotherwisefixedconditions)than
aflat

bottomedone.Thisconclusion
iswrong.

Wethenhavetoaskhowaflatwinglikethatof
apaperairplane,withnocurvesanywhere,can
generatelift.Notethattheflatwinghasbeen
drawnatatilt,thistiltiscalled"angleof
attack"andisnecessaryfortheflatwingto
generatelift.Thetopicofangleofattackwill
bereturnedtopresently.
A flat wing can generate lift. This is a bit difficult to explain
given the traditional mental model.

Thecrosssectionalshapesofwings,likethose
illustratedhere,arecalled"airfoils."Avery
efficientairfoilforsmall,slowflyingmodels
isanarchedpieceofthinsheetmaterial,but
itisnotclearatallfromthecommon
explanationhowitcangenerateliftatall
sincethetopandbottomoftheairfoilarethe

samelength.

Ifthecommonexplanationisalltherewereto
it,thenweshouldbemakingthetopsofwings
evencurvierthantheynoware.Thentheair
wouldhavetogoevenfaster,andwe'dgetmore
lift.Inthisdiagramthewigglinessis
exaggerated.Morerealisticlumpyexampleswill
beencounteredinafewmoments.

If we make the top of the wing like this, the air on top has a
lot longer path to follow, so the air will go even faster than
with a conventional wing. You might conclude that this kind
of airfoil should have lots of lift. In fact, it is a disaster.

Enoughexamples.WhileBernoulli'sequationsare
correct,theirproperapplicationtoaerodynamic
liftproceedsquitedifferentlythanthecommon
explanation.Appliedproperlyornot,the
equationsresultinnoconvenientvisualization
thatlinksthe
5

shapeofanairfoilwithitslift,andreveal
nothingaboutdrag.Thislackofareadily
visualizedmentalmodel,combinedwiththe
prevalenceoftheplausiblesoundingcommon
explanation,isprobablywhyevensomeexcellent
physicistshavebeenmisled.
ALBERTEINSTEIN'SWING
MyfriendYesso,whoworksfortheaircraft
industry(thoughnotasadesigner),cameupwith
aproposedimprovedairfoil.Reasoningalongthe
linesofthecommonexplanationhesuggestedthat
youshouldgetmoreliftfromanairfoilifyou
restartedthetop'scurvepartofthewayalong:

An extra lump for extra lift?

Thisisjusta"reasonable"versionofthelumpy
airfoilthatIpresentedabove.Yesso'sideawas,
ofcourse,basedontheconceptthatalonger
uppersurfaceshouldgivemorelift.Iwasabout
totellYessowhyhisfoilideawouldn'tworkwhen
IhappenedtotalktoJrgenSkogh3.Hetoldme
ofahumpedairfoilAlbertEinstein4 designed
duringWWIthatwasbasedonmuchthesame
reasoningYessohadused[Grosz1988].

Albert Einstein's airfoil. It had no

aerodynamic virtues.

ThismeantthatinsteadoftellingYessomerely
thathisideawouldn'twork,Icouldtellhim
thathehadcreatedamodernizedversionof
Einstein'serror!Einsteinlaternoted,with
chagrin,thathehadgoofed5.[Skogh1993]
EVIDENCEFROMEXPERIMENTS
Ifitwerethecasethatairfoilsgeneratelift
solelybecausetheairflowacrossasurface
lowersthepressureonthat

3Mr.SkoghworkedonaircraftdesignforSaabinSwedenandforLockheedinthe

UnitedStates.
4AlbertEinstein[18791955],aGermanAmericanphysicist,wasoneofthe

greatestscientistsofalltime.Hissmallerrorinwing
designdoesnotdetractfromthemassiverevolutionhis
thinkingbroughtaboutinphysics.
5JrgenSkoghwrites,"DuringtheFirstWorldWarAlbertEinsteinwasforatime

hiredbytheLVG(LuftVerkehrsGesellshaft)asa
consultant.AtLVGhedesignedanairfoilwitha
pronouncedmidchordhump,aninnovationintendedto
enhancelift.TheairfoilwastestedintheGttingen
windtunnelandalsoonanactualaircraftandfound,in
bothcases,tobeaflop."In1954Einsteinwrote
"Althoughitisprobablytruethattheprincipleof
flightcanbemostsimplyexplainedinthis[Bernoullian]
wayitbynomeansiswisetoconstructawinginsucha
manner!"See[Grosz,1988]forthefulltext.
6

surfacethen,ifthesurfaceiscurved,itdoes
notmatterwhetheritisstraight,concave,or
convex;thecommonexplanationdependsonlyon
flowparalleltothesurface.Herearesome
experimentsthatyoucaneasilyreproduceto
testthisidea.
1.Makeastripofwritingpaperabout5cmX25
cm.Holditinfrontofyourlipssothatit
hangsoutanddownmakingaconvexupward
surface.Whenyoublowacrossthetopofthe
paper,itrises.Manybooksattributethisto
theloweringoftheairpressureontopsolely
totheBernoullieffect.
blow
air

Nowuseyourfingerstoformthepaperintoa
curvethatitisslightlyconcaveupwardalong
itswholelengthandagainblowalongthetopof
thisstrip.Thepapernowbendsdownward.
2.Asperthediagramsbelow,buildaboxofthin
plywoodorcardboardwithabalsaairfoilheldin
placewithpinsthatallowittoflapfreelyup
anddown.Airisintroducedwithasodastraw.
That'soneofthenicethingsaboutscience.You
don'thavetotakeanybody'swordforaclaim,
youcantryityourself!6Inthiswindtunnelthe
airflowsonlyacrossthetopoftheshape.A
studentfriendofminemadeanotherwherealeaf
blowerblewonbothtopandbottomandhegotthe
sameresults,butthatdesigntakesmoreeffort
tobuildandtheairfoilmodelsrequireleading
andtrailingedgerefinement.Incidentally,I
triedtoconvinceacompanythatmakesscience
demonstratorstoincludethisintheirofferings.
Theyweren'tinterestedinitbecause"itdidn't
givetherightresults.""Thenhowdoesitwork?"
Iasked."Idon'tknow,"saidtheheaddesigner.
Anexperimentmaybedifficulttointerpretbut,
unlessitisfraudulent,itcannotgivethewrong
results.
6Insomefields,e.g.thestudyofsubatomicparticles,youmightneed

megabucksandastaffofthousandstobuildan
acceleratortodoanindependentcheck,butthe
principleisstillthere.
7

CROSS
SECTION

SIDE
VIEW

AIRFOILDEMONSTRATOR.Thesedrawingsarefull
size,buttheexactsizeandshapearen't
important.Imadeanumberofairfoilstotest.
HerearedrawingsoftheonesImade:
8

NORMAL
CONCAVE

RECURVED

FLAT

FLAT WITH
DOWNTURN
FLAT WITH
UPTURN

EXPERIMENTALRESULTS
Whenthestrawisblowninto,thenormalairfoil
promptlyliftsoffthebottomandfloatsup.When
theblowingstops,itgoesbackdown.Thisis
exactlywhateverybodyexpects.Nowconsider
theconcaveshape;thecurveisexactlythesameas
thefirstairfoil,thoughturnedupsidedown.If
thecommonexplanationweretrue,then,sincethe
lengthalongthecurveisthesameaswiththe
"normal"example,you'dexpectthisonetorise,
too.Afterall,theairflowalongthesurfacemust
beloweringthepressure,allowingthenormal
ambientairpressurebelowtopushitup.
Nonetheless,theconcaveairfoilstaysfirmlydown;
ifyouholdtheapparatusvertically,itwillbe
seentomoveawayfromtheairflow.
Inotherwords,anoftencitedexperimentwhichis
usuallytakenasdemonstratingthecommon
explanationofliftdoesnotdoso;anothereffect
isfarstronger.Therestoftheairfoilsarefor

funtrytoanticipatethedirectioneachwillmove
beforeyouputthemintheapparatus.Ithasbeen
notedthat"progressinsciencecomeswhen
experimentscontradicttheory"[Gleick1992]
althoughinthiscasethesciencehasbeenlong
known,andtheexperimentcontradictsnot
aerodynamictheory,buttheoftentaughtcommon
interpretation.Nonetheless,evenifsciencedoes
notprogressinthiscase,anindividual's
understandingofitmay.Anothersimpleexperiment
willleadustowardanexplanationthatmayhelpto
giveabetterfeelfortheseaerodynamiceffects.
THECOANDAEFFECT
9

Ifastreamofwaterisflowingalongasolid
surfacewhichiscurvedslightlyawayfromthe
stream,thewaterwilltendtofollowthesurface.
ThisisanexampleoftheCoandaeffect7andis
easilydemonstratedbyholdingthebackofaspoon
verticallyunderathinstreamofwaterfroma
faucet.Ifyouholdthespoonsothatitcan
swing,youwillfeelitbeingpulledtowardthe
streamofwater.Theeffecthaslimits:ifyouuse
asphereinsteadofaspoon,youwillfindthat
thewaterwillonlyfollowapartoftheway
around.Further,ifthesurfaceistoosharply
curved,thewaterwillnotfollowbutwilljust
bendabitandbreakawayfromthesurface.

TheCoandaeffectworkswithanyofourusual
fluids,suchasairatusualtemperatures,
pressures,andspeeds.Imakethese
qualificationsbecause(togiveafewexamples)
liquidhelium,gassesatextremesoflowor
highpressureortemperature,andfluidsat
supersonicspeedsoftenbehaverather
differently.Fortunately,wedon'thaveto
worryaboutallofthoseextremeswithmodel
planes.

7Inthe1930'stheRomanianaerodynamicistHenriMarieCoanda(18851972)observed

thatastreamofair(orotherfluid)emergingfroma
nozzletendstofollowanearbycurvedorflatsurface,if
thecurvatureofthesurfaceoranglethesurfacemakes
withthestreamisnottoosharp.
10

A stream of air, such as

what you'd get if you blow
through a straw, goes in a
straight line
A stream of air alongside a
straight surface still goes in
a straight line
A stream of air alongside
a curved surface tends to
follow the curvature of the
surface. Seems natural
enough.

Strangely, a stream of air

alongside a curved surface
that bends away from it still
tends to follow the curvature
of the surface. This is the
Coanda effect.

Anotherthingwedon'thavetowonderaboutiswhy
theCoandaeffectworks,wecantakeitasan
experimentallygivenfact.ButIhopeyour
curiosityisunsatisfiedonthispointandthat
youwillseekfurther.
AwordoftenusedtodescribetheCoandaeffectis
tosaythattheairstreamis"entrained"bythe
surface.Oneadvantageofdiscussingliftanddrag
intermsoftheCoandaeffectisthatwecan
visualizetheforcesinvolvedinarather
straightforwardway.Thecommonexplanation(and
themethodsusedinserioustextsonaerodynamics)
areanythingbutclearinshowinghowthemotion
oftheairisphysicallycoupledtothewing.This
ispartlybecausemuchoftheapproachtakenin
the1920swasshapedbytheneedfortheresulting
differentialequations(mostlybasedontheKutta
Joukowskitheorem8)tohaveclosedformsolutions
ortoyieldusefulnumericalresultswithpaper
andpencilmethods.Modernapproachesuse
computersandarebasedononlyslightlymore
intuitiveconstructs.Wewillnowdevelopan
alternativewayofvisualizingliftthatmakes
predictingthebasicphenomenaassociatedwithit
easier.
8DiscoveredindependentlybytheGermanmathematicianM.WilheimKutta(1867

1944)andtheRussianphysicistNikolaiJoukowski(1847
1921).

11

AMENTALMODELOFHOWAWINGGENERATESLIFTAND
DRAG
Asistypicalofphysicists,Ihaveoften
spokenoftheairmovingpastthewing.In
aircraftwingsusuallymovethroughtheair.It
makesnorealdifference,asflyingaslow
planeintothewindsothattheplane'sground
speediszerodemonstrates.SoIwillspeakof
theairplanemovingorthewindmoving
whichevermakesthepointmoreclearlyatthe
time.
Inthenextillustration,itbecomes
convenienttolookat

the air molecules, attracted to the

surface, are pulled down.

Thinkofthewingmovingtotheleft,withthe
airstandingstill.Theairmovestowardthewing
muchasifitwasattachedtothewingwith
invisiblerubberbands.Itisoftenhelpfulto
thinkofliftastheactionoftherubberbands
thatarepullingthewingup.
Anotherdetailisimportant:theairgetspulled
alonginthedirectionofthewing'smotionas
well.Sotheactionisreallymorelikethe
followingpicture.

The air is pulled forward as well

as down by the motion of the
wing.

Ifyouwereinacanoeandtriedpullingsomeone
inthewatertowardyouwitharope,yourcanoe
wouldmovetowardtheperson.Itisclassic
actionandreaction.Youmoveamassofairdown
andthewingmovesup.Thisisauseful
visualizationoftheliftgeneratedbythetopof
thewing.
Asthediagramsuggests,thewinghasalsospent
someofitsenergy,necessarily,inmovingthe
airforward.Theimaginaryrubberbandspullit
backsome.That'sawaytothinkaboutthe
dragthatiscausedbytheliftthewing
generates.Liftcannotbehadwithoutdrag.
Theaccelerationoftheairaroundthesharper
curvaturenearthefrontofthetopofthewing
alsoimpartsadownwardandforwardcomponentto
themotionofthemoleculesofair(actuallya
slowingoftheirupwardandbackwardmotion,
whichisequivalent)andthuscontributesto

lift.Thebottomofthewingiseasierto
understand,andanexplanationislefttothe
reader.
Theexperimentswiththeminiaturewindtunnel
describedearlierarereadilyunderstoodinterms
oftheCoandaeffect:thedownwardcurvedwing
entrainedtheairflowtomovedownward,anda
forceupwardisdevelopedinreaction.The
upwardcurved(concave)airfoilentrainedthe
airflowtomoveupwards,andaforcedownwardwas
theresult.Thelumpywinggeneratesalotof
dragbymovingairmoleculesupanddown
repeatedly.Thiseatsupenergy(bygenerating
frictionalheat)butdoesn'tcreateanet
downwardmotionoftheairandthereforedoesn't
createanetupward
12

movementofthewing.Itiseasy,basedonthe
Coandaeffect,tovisualizewhyangleofattack
(theforeandafttiltofthewing,as
illustratedearlier)iscruciallyimportantto
asymmetricalairfoil,whyplanescanfly
inverted,whyflatandthinwingswork,andwhy
Experiment1withitsconvexandconcavestrips
ofpaperworksasitdoes.

Whathasbeenpresentedsofarisbynomeansa
physicalaccountofliftanddrag,butitdoes
tendtogiveagoodpictureofthephenomena.
Wewillnowusethisgrasptogetareasonable
holdonthespinningballproblem.

WHYTHESPINNINGBALL'SPATHCURVES,INTERMSOF
THECOANDAEFFECT
TheCoandaeffecttellsustheairtendstofollow
thesurfaceoftheball.ConsiderTrefil'ssideA
whichisrotatinginthedirectionofflight.It
istryingtoentrainairwithitasitspins,this
actionisopposedbytheoncomingair.Thus,to
entraintheairaroundtheballonthisside,it
mustfirstdecelerateitandthenreaccelerateit
intheoppositedirection.OntheBside,whichis
rotatingoppositethedirectionofflight,theair
isalreadymoving(relativetotheball)inthe
samedirection,andisthusmoreeasilyentrained.
Theairmorereadilyfollowsthecurvatureofthe
BsidearoundandacquiresavelocitytowardtheA
side.TheballthereforemovestowardtheBside
byreaction.
Itisagaintimeforasimpleexperiment.Itis
difficulttoexperimentwithbaseballsbecause
theirweightislargecomparedtotheaerodynamic
forcesonthemanditisveryhardtocontrolthe
magnitudeanddirectionofthespin,soletus
lookatacasewheretheballislighterand
aerodynamiceffectseasiertosee.Iuseacheap
beachball(expensiveonesaremadeofheavier
materialsandshowaerodynamiceffectsless).
Thrownwithenoughbottomspin(bottommoving
forward)suchaballwillactuallyriseinacurve
asittravelsforward.Theliftduetospincanbe

sostrongthatitisgreaterthanthedownward
forceofgravity!Soon,airresistancestopsboth
thespinandtheforwardmotionoftheballandit
falls,butnotbeforeithasshownthatTrefil's
explanationofhowspinaffectstheflightofa
balliswrong.
Theliftduetospinningwhilemovingthroughthe
airisusuallycalledthe"Magnus9effect."Some
booksonaerodynamicsalsodescribethe"Flettner
Rotor,"whichisalongsinceabandonedattemptto
usetheMagnuseffecttomakeanefficientboat
sail.ManysourcesbesidesTrefilgettheeffect
backwardsincludingtheusuallyreliableHoerner
[Hoerner1965].Collegeleveltextstendtoget
itright[KuetheandChow1976;Houghtonand
Carruthers1982]but,asnotedabove,Feynman's
LecturesonPhysicshastherotationbackwards.I
wasrelievedtoseethatthe
classicAerodynamics[vonKrmn1954]getsthe
liftforceona
9H.G.Magnus(18021870),aGermanphysicistandchemist,demonstratedthiseffect

in1853.

13

spinningballinthecorrectdirectionthough
thereasoningseemsabitstrained.
IwishIcouldsendthisessaytothe6thgrade
scienceteacherwhocouldnottakethetimeto
listentomyreasoning.Here'swhathappened:he
sentmetotheprincipal'sofficewhenIcamein
thenextdaywithabalsamodelplanewithdead
flatwings.Itwouldflywitheithersideup
dependingonhowanaluminumfoilelevator
adjustmentwasset.Iusedittodemonstrate
thattheexplanationtheclasshadbeengiven
musthavebeenwrong,somehow.Theprincipal,
however,wasinformedthatmyoffensewas
"flyingpaperairplanesinclass"asthoughdone
withdisruptiveintent.Afterbeingwarnedthat
Iwastoimprovemybehavior,Iwenttomy
belovedmathteacherwhosuggestedthatIgoto
thelibrarytofindouthowairplanesflyonly
todiscoverthatallthebooksagreedwithmy
scienceteacher!Itwasashocktorealizethat
myteacherandeventhelibrarybookscouldbe
wrong.AnditwasarevelationthatIcould
trustmyownthinkinginthefaceofsuch
concertedopposition.Myplayingwithmodel
airplaneshadledmetotakeamajorsteptoward
intellectualindependenceandaspiritof
innovationthatlaterledmetocreatethe
Macintoshcomputerproject(andother,less
wellknowninventions)asanadult.

APPENDIX1
AQUANTITATIVEAPPLICATIONOFTHECOMMON(INCORRECT)
EXPLANATION
Ifthepressure,inNewtonspersquaremeter(Nm2=
kgm1s2),onthetopofawingisnotatedptop,thepressureonthe
bottompbottom,thevelocity(ms1)onthetopofthe
wingv,andthevelocityon
thebottomvbottom,andwhere__isthetop
densityofair(approximately1.2kgm3),thenthe
pressuredifferenceacrossthewingisgivenbythe
firsttermofBernoulli'sequation:
ptoppbottom=1/2_(vtop2vbottom2)
Arectangularplanform(topview)wingofonemeter
spanwasmeasuredashavingalengthchordwisealong
thebottomof0.1624mwhilethelengthacrossthe
topwas0.1636m.Theratioofthelengthsis
1.0074.Thisratioistypicalformanymodeland
fullsizeaircraftwings.Accordingtothecommon
explanationwhichhastwoadjacentmolecules
separatedattheleadingedgemysteriouslymeeting
atthetrailingedge,theaverageairvelocitieson
thetopandbottomarealsointheratioof1.0074.
Atypicalspeedforamodelplaneof1mspanand
0.16mchordwithamassof0.7kg(aweightof6.9
N)is10ms1is10ms1,sov
whichmakesvtop10.074ms1.Giventhesenumbers,
webottom
findapressuredifferencefromtheequationof
about0.9kgm12.Theareaofthewingis0.16m2s
givingatotalforceof0.14N.Thisisnotnearly
enoughitmissesliftingtheweightof6.9Nbya
factorofabout50.Wewouldneedanairvelocity
differenceof

14

about3ms1tolifttheplane.
Thecalculationis,ofcourse,an
approximationsinceBernoulli'sequation
assumesnonviscous,incompressibleflowand
airisbothviscousandcompressible.But
theviscosityissmallandatthespeedswe
arespeakingofairdoesnotcompress
significantly.Accountingforthesedetails
changestheoutcomeatmostapercentor
so.Thistreatmentalsoignoresthesecond
term(notshown)oftheBernoulli
equationthestaticpressuredifference
betweenthetopandbottomofthewingdue
totheirtriviallydifferentaltitudes.Its
contributiontoliftisevensmallerthan
theeffectsalreadyignored.Theuseofan
averagevelocityassumesacirculararcfor
thetopofthewing.Thisisnotoptimal
butitwillfly.Noneofthesedetails
affecttheconclusionthatthecommon
explanationofhowawinggenerateslift
withitsnaveapplicationofthe
Bernoulliequationfailsquantitatively.
FURTHERREADING:Therearemanyfinebooks
andarticlesonthesubjectofmodel
airplaneaerodynamics(andmanymoreon
aerodynamicsingeneral).Commendably
accurateandreadablearebooksand
articlesformodelersbyProfessorMartin
Simons[e.g.Simons1987].Muchcanbe
learnedfromFrankZaic'sdelightful,if
notterriblytechnical,series[Zaic1936 5
toZaic1964](AvailablefromtheAcademy
ofModelAeronauticsintheUnitedStates),
andnotreatmentsaremoreprofessionalor
usefulthanthoseofProfessorMichael

Seligandhiscolleagues[e.g.Seliget.
al.1989].Alloftheseauthorsarealso
wellknownmodelers.Theotherreferences
onaerodynamics,e.g.KuetheandChow
[1976]andHoughtonandCarruthers[1982]
aregraduateorupperlevelundergraduate
texts,theyrequireaknowledgeofphysics
andcalculusincludingpartialdifferential
equations.Jones[1988]isaninformal
treatmentbyamasterandHoerner[1965]is
amagnificentcompendiumofexperimental
results,buthaslittletheorypractical
designersfindhisworkinvaluable.
15

REFERENCES
*Adair,RobertK.ThePhysicsofBaseball,Harper
andRow,NY,1990.pg.13
*Feynman,R.et.al.LecturesonPhysics,VolII,
AddisonWesley1964pg.409,4010,4111
*Gleick,J.Genius.PantheonBooks,NY1992pg.
234*Grosz,PeterM."HerrDrProfAlbertWho?
EinsteintheAerodynamicist,That'sWho!"WWIAero
No.118,Feb.1988pg.42ff*Hoerner,S.F.
FluidDynamicDrag,HoernerFluidDynamics,1965
pg.711
*HoughtonandCarruthers.Aerodynamicsfor
EngineeringStudents,EdwardArnoldPublishers,
Ltd.London,1982
*Jones,R.T.ModernSubsonicAerodynamics.
AircraftDesignsInc.,1988.pg.36
*Lamptey,George.TheTenBridgestoProfessional
Soccer,Book1:BridgeofKicking.AcademyPress,
SantaClaraCA,1985.*Levy,Steven."Insanely
Great."PopularScience,February,1994.pg.56ff.
*Linzmayer,Owen.TheMacBathroomReader,Sybex
1994*KuetheandChow.FoundationsofAerodynamics,
Wiley,1976*Macaulay,David.TheWayThingsWork.
HoughtonMifflinCo.Boston,1988.pg.115
*Selig,M.et.al.AirfoilsatLowSpeeds.
Soartech8.HerkStokely,1504HorseshoeCircle,
VirginiaBeachVA23451,1989*Simons,M.Model
AircraftAerodynamics,2nded..ArgusBooksLtd.,
London,1987.
*Skogh,Jrgen.Einstein'sFollyandTheAreaof
aRectangle,inpublication
*Thornburg,Dave.DoYouSpeakModelAirplane?Pony
XPress,5MonticelloDrive,AlbuquerqueNM87123,
1992
*Trefil,JamesS.AScientistAtThe
Seashore.CollierBooks,MacmillanPublishingCo.,

1984,pp148149
*vonKrmn,T.Aerodynamics.OxfordUniv.Press
1954pg.33*Zaic,Frank.ModelAeronautic
Yearbooks.Publishedfromthe30'stothe60's
*Zaic,Frank.CircularAirflow.ModelAeronautic
Publications,1964.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
IamveryappreciativeofthesuggestionsIhave
receivedfromanumberofcarefulreaders,
includingDr.BillAldridge,Professors
16

MichaelSelig,SteveBerry,andVincentPanico,
andLindaBlum.Theyhavemateriallyimproved
boththecontentandtheexposition,butwhereI
havefoolishlynottakentheiradvicemyown
errorsmayyetshinethrough.
AUTHOR'SBIOGRAPHY
JefRaskinwasaprofessorattheUniversityof
CaliforniaatSanDiegoandoriginatedthe
MacintoshcomputeratAppleComputerInc[Levy
1994;Linzmayer1994].Heisawidelypublished
writer,anavidmodelairplanebuilderand
competitor,andanactivemusicianandcomposer.
17