Question

how do sailboats sail up wind? It is obvious how they move with the wind but definitely not so obvious how they go against the wind. Going along with this, baseballs would still fly even if there was no lift BUT how do Frisbee and boomerangs work?

Answer 1

on a sailboat, wind blowing against the boat at an angle inflates the sail, and it forms a similar foil shape, creating a difference in pressure that pushes the sail at a right angle to the direction of wind. this is one of the reason for sailing.

the boomerang spins through the air, the wing at the top of the spin is moving through the air at a faster rate than the wing at the bottom, because it is moving in the direction of the throw while the wing at the bottom is going the other way. The result is that the top portion will generate more lift than the bottom portion as it cuts through the air.he difference in lift between the top and the bottom then creates a torque which ends up tilting the plane of rotation slightly such that the boomerang ends up flying in a curved path through the air. This is the mechanism behind returning of boomernag.