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A comment on Ask HN: What scientific phenomenon do you wish someone would explain better?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: What scientific phenomenon do you wish someone wo... by Biganon on Sunday April 26, 2020 @07:32PM (#22991292)
For years I thought I was crazy or stupid, whenever I heard this story of "air has to go faster" I was like "but how does air know?? It's not like it has a Google maps plan telling it it needs to reach the other end of the wing at a precise time!"

By chance, in the last few years I've started reading more and more comments debunking this absurd explanation. Not that I understand perfectly now, but at least I know I'm not crazy.

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Re:Ask HN: What scientific phenomenon do you wish someone wo... by na85 on Sunday April 26, 2020 @07:37PM (#22991325)
In fact that "air has to go faster" silliness only works if you completely neglect air friction entirely, because then the air can be said to part around the wing like butter around a hot knife.

But of course anyone who's seen snow billowing off the back of a car knows that air doesn't just close up behind the object like a ziplock bag: it's messy and turbulent and gets all over your windows while you're tailgating.

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