Flight of a Glider
Flight of a Glider
This Demonstration shows the flight path of a glider, depending on the initial velocity of the plane, its release angle, and the plane's drag coefficient . The flight is governed by Lanchester's system of autonomous nonlinear differential equations:
d
v'=-sinθ-d
2
v
θ'=
-cosθ+
2
v
v
where is the velocity of the plane at a given time and is the angle between the horizontal and the plane at time . The plot shows the distance traveled versus the height of the plane above the ground.
v
t
θ
t