The changes in the Total Energy of a glider when it comes in to the finish of a competition are examined.

The Final Glide

How do you go about designing an aircraft that has no engine? What forces enable a glider to become airborne and quickly reach high altitudes quickly? The tracks in this album look at the aerodynamics of gliders, ask questions relating to the 'Speed to Fly', and explores the consequences of kinetic and potential energy change, providing a useful way of modelling the behaviour of a glider in the air. This material makes up part of the course MST209, Mathematical methods and models.