Bernoulli's Principle

In the 1700s, a Swiss scientist named Daniel Bernoulli discovered something amazing about moving air. He found that when air moves faster, its pressure drops. When air moves slower, its pressure is higher. This principle helps explain how airplanes fly and why shower curtains blow inward.

How It Works

Imagine air flowing through a tube that gets narrow in the middle. In the narrow part, the air speeds up. Bernoulli showed that this faster-moving air has lower pressure. In the wider parts, the air is slower and has higher pressure. The pressure difference creates a force.

Bernoulli's Principle in Action

Airplane wings are curved on top and flatter on the bottom. Air moves faster over the curved top, creating lower pressure above the wing. Higher pressure below the wing pushes it up, creating lift. This principle also explains why a shower curtain blows inward and why a spinning baseball curves.

Fun Facts

• You can demonstrate Bernoulli's Principle by blowing between two sheets of paper. They move together instead of apart.
• Race cars use upside-down wings called spoilers that push the car down for better grip.
• Prairie dogs use Bernoulli's Principle. They build mounds at tunnel entrances to create airflow through their burrows.

Did You Know?

A curveball in baseball works because of Bernoulli's Principle. The spinning ball makes air move faster on one side, creating lower pressure. The ball curves toward the lower-pressure side!