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Yacht Car 2 (Side Wind)

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Watch the video on YouTube.

What kind of experiment is this?

Experimental procedure and explanation:

  • In this case the wind is blowing sideways to the car.
  • We point the sail so the wind gets deflected toward the rear of the car. As the sail deflects the flow, the sail receives a force that is opposite to the force that the flow gets from the sail. This makes the car move forward.
  • In this case the force on the sail includes a component that is perpendicular to the flow; this force is called lift. In other words, for a side wind, the sail utilizes lift to move forward.
  • For a tailwind (Yacht Car 1), the car cannot achieve a speed faster than the wind. But for a side wind, if the running resistance of the car is small enough, the car can run faster than the wind speed. This applies to a yacht: a side wind is more favorable than a tailwind.
[Keywords] Lift
[Related items] Down Force, Yacht Car 2, Yacht Car 3
[Reference]

“The Wonders of Flow,” Japan Society of Mechanical Engineering, Kodansha Blue Backs pp. 162–167.

Last Update:1.27.2014