How Does A Plane Wing Work?

A plane wing uses airflow and shape to lift a heavy airplane into the sky like a leaf floating on the wind.

Imagine you're blowing on a paper plate, when you blow over the top of it, it lifts up. That's similar to how a plane wing works! The top of the wing is curved, while the bottom is flat. When the airplane moves forward, air flows over both sides of the wing.

• The curved top makes the air move faster, just like when you blow quickly across the top of a paper plate.
• Faster moving air has less pressure, it’s like when your breath blows away the lid from a cup of hot chocolate.
• Meanwhile, the flat bottom keeps the air slower and with more pressure, like how the lid stays on the cup if you don’t blow hard enough.

This difference in pressure pushes the wing up, just like how your breath lifts the paper plate. And that’s how planes fly!