Physclips: The Physics of Sailing

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Detail Page

published by the University of New South Wales
written by Joe Wolfe

This multimedia lesson for introductory physics explores the forces that cause modern sailboats to move against the wind. It explains how boats can sail at 40 degrees into the wind through counteracting lift forces generated by the sails and the keel. Also provided are links to a sailing simulator and articles on sailboat technology.

Editor's Note: This lesson provides a great opportunity to investigate Bernoulli's Principle in action. See "Related Materials" for a 5-minute video on the physics of sailing, plus an article from "Physics Central" discussing how modern boats can sail faster than the wind.

This tutorial is part of the PhysClip collection of web-based resources on introductory mechanics, electricity, and magnetism.

http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Classical Mechanics - Newton's Second Law = Force, Acceleration Fluid Mechanics - Dynamics of Fluids = Bernoulli's Principle	- High School - Lower Undergraduate	- Instructional Material = Tutorial - Audio/Visual = Image/Image Set

Appropriate Courses	Categories	Ratings
- Conceptual Physics - Algebra-based Physics - AP Physics	- Activity - New teachers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Intended User:: Educator
Formats:: text/html
image/gif
Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2002 School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Australia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.
Keywords:: Bernoulli, drag, force, force interactions, lift force
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created October 1, 2011 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:: August 22, 2016 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: August 31, 2008

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4F. Motion

6-8: 4F/M3a. An unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion, or both.
9-12: 4F/H4. Whenever one thing exerts a force on another, an equal amount of force is exerted back on it.

8. The Designed World

8B. Materials and Manufacturing

9-12: 8B/H1. Manufacturing processes have been changed by improved tools and techniques based on more thorough scientific understanding, increases in the forces that can be applied and the temperatures that can be reached, and the availability of electronic controls that make operations occur more rapidly and consistently.

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/precollege/items/detail.cfm?ID=11488">Wolfe, Joe. Physclips: The Physics of Sailing. Sydney: University of New South Wales, August 31, 2008.</a>

AIP Format

J. Wolfe, (University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2002), WWW Document, (http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html).

AJP/PRST-PER

J. Wolfe, Physclips: The Physics of Sailing (University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2002), <http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html>.

APA Format

Wolfe, J. (2008, August 31). Physclips: The Physics of Sailing. Retrieved February 7, 2025, from University of New South Wales: http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html

Chicago Format

Wolfe, Joe. Physclips: The Physics of Sailing. Sydney: University of New South Wales, August 31, 2008. http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html (accessed 7 February 2025).

MLA Format

Wolfe, Joe. Physclips: The Physics of Sailing. Sydney: University of New South Wales, 2002. 31 Aug. 2008. 7 Feb. 2025 <http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "Joe Wolfe", Title = {Physclips: The Physics of Sailing}, Publisher = {University of New South Wales}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {7 February 2025}, Month = {August 31, 2008}, Year = {2002} }

Refer Export Format

%A Joe Wolfe %T Physclips: The Physics of Sailing %D August 31, 2008 %I University of New South Wales %C Sydney %U http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Wolfe, Joe %D August 31, 2008 %T Physclips: The Physics of Sailing %I University of New South Wales %V 2025 %N 7 February 2025 %8 August 31, 2008 %9 text/html %U http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html

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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

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