How To: Apply Newton's laws of motion to takeoffs with NASA

Understand the concepts of drag force and how Newton's laws of motion apply to an aircraft's take off with help from NASA -- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The juggernaut of space exploration lays everything out on the table for you. Learn from the best, learn from the pros, learn from NASA.

This NASA video segment from "Flight Testing Newton's Laws" explores how Newton's laws apply to the takeoff of an airplane. Viewers watch an instructor and engineer at NASA's National Test Pilot School and learn that there are four opposing forces on an airplane, that takeoff is the point at which the lift just starts to offset the weight, and that the distance needed for takeoff can be calculated using an equation derived from Newton's second law. The video clip also discusses the extra drag force created by the rolling friction of the airplane's wheels.