PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

Midterm Flexible Modalities

for Aviation Fundamentals

WEEK 1
“Based on the Formulated Module of Mr. Mark John G. Corsino, MEAM
Permanent Faculty Member of Institute of Engineering & Technology"

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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

MODULE 1
The layers of atmosphere
Bernoulli’s principle
Newton’s law of motion

Compiled by:
Asso. Prof. Bely B. Apostol
Subject Professor

“Based on the Formulated Module of Mr. Mark John G. Corsino, MEAM

Permanent Faculty Member of Institute of Engineering & Technology"

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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

Flexible Learning Topics Ref Pages

No. No.
The layers of atmosphere 1 4-10
Bernoulli’s principle 2 10
Newton’s law of motion 3 11
Honesty Clause 3
TIMEFRAME:

You should be able to complete this module including all the self-assessments, research works,
assignments, and other performance tasks within 2.62 hours.

ACADEMIC HONESTY STATEMENT

For this exam/quiz/Enrichment activity/recitation, I make the following statement: I
understand that acts of academic dishonesty shall be penalized to the full extent as indicated in
the provision of the PhilSCA Student Manual (page 20, No. 6)

1) Module Learning Outcomes

Module Learning Outcomes
 Classify the different layers of atmosphere
 Can also identify what layer of atmosphere that can the aircraft can fly in what area of
atmosphere
 Explain the composition of air
 Define and appreciate the Bernoulli’s principle in the aircraft
 Can understand the uses of Newton’s law of motion in the aircraft

Topic Learning Outcomes

 Identify and understand the atmospheric pressure.
 Understand the principle and Laws, How it related in flights.
References No.
atmosphere/layers Available from https://vortex.plymouth.edu.html 1
Bernoulli principle Available from
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files 2

newton’s-laws Available from

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/forces 3

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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

LESSON

The layers of atmosphere

Troposphere
The troposphere starts at the Earth's surface and extends 8 to 14.5 kilometers high (5 to 9 miles).
This part of the atmosphere is the densest. Almost all weather is in this region.

Stratosphere
The stratosphere starts just above the troposphere and extends to 50 kilometers (31 miles) high.
The ozone layer, which absorbs and scatters the solar ultraviolet radiation, is in this layer.

Mesosphere
The mesosphere starts just above the stratosphere and extends to 85 kilometers (53 miles) high.
Meteors burn up in this layer

Thermosphere

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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

The thermosphere starts just above the mesosphere and extends to 600 kilometers (372 miles)
high. Aurora and satellites occur in this layer.

Ionosphere
The ionosphere is an abundant layer of electrons and ionized atoms and molecules that stretches
from about 48 kilometers (30 miles) above the surface to the edge of space at about 965 km (600
mi), overlapping into the mesosphere and thermosphere. This dynamic region grows and shrinks
based on solar conditions and divides further into the sub-regions: D, E and F; based on what
wavelength of solar radiation is absorbed. The ionosphere is a critical link in the chain of Sun-
Earth interactions. This region is what makes radio communications possible.

Exosphere
this is the upper limit of our atmosphere. It extends from the top of the thermosphere up to
10,000 km (6,200 mi).

The Atmosphere
Air is a mixture of several gases. For practical purposes it is sufficient to say that air is a mixture
of one-fifth oxygen and fourth-fifths nitrogen. Pure, dry air contains about 78 percent (by volume)
nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and almost 1 percent argon. In addition, it contains about 0.03
percent carbon dioxide and traces of several other gases such as hydrogen, helium, neon, etc.

The atmosphere is the whole mass of air extending upward

for hundreds of miles. It may be compared with a pile of
blankets. Air in the higher altitudes, like the top blanket
of the pile, is under much less pressure than the air at the
lower altitudes. The air at the earth’s surface may be
compared with the bottom blanket in a pile because it
supports the weight of all the layers above it.

Air has weight and can be weighed. If an unsealed glass jar

is weighed, it is heavier than it will be after the air has
been exhausted with a vacuum pump. This
experiment is illustrated in Fig. 1. The difference in weight
is the weight of the air which was in the unsealed jar.
Perfectly dry air weights 0.07651 lb. per cu. ft. At sea level
when the temperature is 59˚F (15˚C), at 40˚ latitude,
with a barometric pressure of 14.69 psi (29.92 inches
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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

of mercury). Figure 2 represents the cross section of an open container. The arrows show that
the air everywhere exerts a uniform pressure in every direction. If the inside pressure against the
bottom were greater than the outside pressure, the container would tend to bulge out at the
bottom. Likewise, if the inside pressure against the bottom were less than the outside pressure,
the bottom would tend to bend upward.

Pressure
The atmosphere may be compared to a pile of blankets. Air in the higher altitudes, like the top
blanket of pile, is under much less pressure than the air at the lower altitudes. The air at the
earth’s surface may be compared to the bottom blanket, because it supports the weight of all the
layers above it.

Pressure may be defined as force acting upon a unit area. For example, if a force of 5
pounds is acting against an area of 1 square inch, we say that there is a pressure of 5 psi (pounds
per square inch).

Atmosphere pressure can be measured by means of a mercury BAROMETER. This is a glass tube,
closed at one end and filled with mercury. It is than inverted
such that the open end is under the surface of some mercury
in a dish. Atmosphere pressure, acting on the surface of the
mercury in the dish, will support a column of mercury within
the tube. The height of the mercury column above the level in
the dish is measured and is an indication of the
atmospheric pressure.

If atmospheric pressure decreases (due to increasing altitude

for example) the height of the mercury column in the glass
tube will be lower; and vice versa when the atmosphere
pressure were to increase. Atmospheric pressure at sea level
under standard conditions is 29.92 inches of mercury.

As altitude increases, the atmospheric pressure acting on the body will decrease. This is because
less weight of air is acting on the body. However this atmospheric pressure DOES NOT decrease
at a steady rate with increase altitude but tends to decrease faster at low altitudes.

In practice half the weight of air in the atmosphere is below an altitude of about 18,000 feet.
There climbing to this altitude will cause the atmospheric pressure to reduce to half its sea-level
value. Climbing a further 18,000 feet to 36,000 feet, will only cause the pressure to reduce to a
quarter of its sea-level value.

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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

Temperature

Temperature is considered a measure of hotness or coldness of a body.

There are two scales normally used for measuring temperature. The Celsius scale, formerly called
Centigrade scale has 100 divisions between the freezing and boiling points of pure water. Water
freezes at 0ͦ C and boils at 100ͦ C. The Fahrenheit scale is also based on the freezing and boiling
points of water, but its freezing point is 32ͦ F. There are 180 divisions on this scale, so water boils
at 212ͦ F.

The standard sea level temperature is 15ͦ C or 59ͦ F. The temperature decreases as altitude
increases. Up to about 36,000 ft above the earth’s surface, the decrease is quite regular, about 2ͦ
C or 3ͦ F per 1000 ft. This is also known as the temperature lapse rate. Above this altitude, the
temperature remains at approximately -57ͦ C.

This sudden check in the fall of temperature has resulted in the lower part of the atmosphere
being divided into two layers. The one nearer the earth, in which the temperature is falling being
called the TROPOSPHERE, the higher one in which the temperature is constant, the
STRATOSPHERE. The surface dividing the two is called the TROPOPAUSE.

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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

Density

The density of the air is the MASS of air per unit volume.

We have seen that both the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere decrease with altitude.
Density also decreases with increasing altitude but at slower rate as compared to the fall of
pressure as altitude increases. This is due to the restoring effect of the decreasing temperature on
density as altitude increases.

BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE

The basic principle of pressure differential of subsonic airflow was discovered by Daniel Bernoulli,
a Swiss physicist. Bernoulli’s Principle, simply stated, says that “an increase in the speed of fluid
simultaneously with decrease in pressure.”

As the air enters the tube, it is travelling at a known velocity and pressure. When the airflow enters the
narrow portion, the velocity increases and the pressure decreases. Then, as the airflow continues through
the tube to the wider portion, both the velocity and pressure return to their original values.

Continuity Equation
Mass flow of fluid in = mass of fluid out
ρ1 A1 V1 = ρ2 A2 V2

Newton’s law of motion

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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

Newton's first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight
line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. This is normally
taken as the definition of inertia.

The second law states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables -
the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object. The acceleration of an object
depends directly upon the net force acting upon the object, and inversely upon the mass of the
object. As the force acting upon an object is increased, the acceleration of the object is
increased. As the mass of an object is increased, the acceleration of the object is decreased.

The remaining lift is provided by the wing’s lower surface as air striking the underside is deflected
downward. According to Newton’s Third law of Motion, “for every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction.” The air that is deflected downward also produces an upward (lifting) reaction.

There are many other factors that determine the lifting capacity of a wing. Before we look into
these, let’s first discuss some basic terminology.

ASSIGNMENT No. 1

Name:____________________________________________ Date:_________
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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

Course, Year & Section:_____________________________ Score:

Part I. Modified TRUE or FALSE

Direction: Write “TRUE” if the statement implies correct meaning. Otherwise, “FALSE” if not and
change the underlined word to make it correct.

______________1. Newton’s first law states that every object will remain ate rest or in uniform motion in a
one line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force

______________ 2. If atmospheric pressure decreases (due to increasing altitude for example) the height
of the mercury column in the glass tube will be higher.

_______________3. The basic principle of pressure differential of subsonic airflow was discovered by
Danielle Bernoulli.

_______________4. Density also decreases with increasing altitude but at slower rate as compared to the
fall of pressure as altitude increases.

_______________5. Atmosphere pressure can be measured by means of a mercury BAROMETER.

_______________6. The standard sea level temperature is 15ͦ C or 69ͦ F.

_______________7. The mesosphere starts just above the stratosphere and extends to 85 kilometers (53
miles) high.

_______________8. Troposphere is the upper limit of our atmosphere. It extends from the top of the
thermosphere up to 10,000 km (6,200 mi).

_______________9. The ionosphere is an abundant layer of electrons and ionized atoms and molecules
that stretches from about 48 kilometers (30 miles) above the surface to the edge of space at about 965 km
(600 mi), overlapping into the mesosphere and thermosphere.

_______________10. The thermosphere starts just above the exosphere and extends to 600 kilometers
(372 miles) high. Aurora and satellites occur in this layer.

ABILITY TEST No. 1

Name:____________________________________________ Date:_________
Course, Year & Section:_____________________________ Score:
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 PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Piccio Garden, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City, Philippines

Part I. ESSAY

Direction: Discuss the following questions below. Use the space provided and extra sheet if
necessary.

A. What do you think is the relevance or significance of the “ BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE” to

the flight of an airplane?

B. What is the importance of the “NEWTON’S LAW” in the aircraft flying?

C. What is the important role of the layer of atmosphere in the flight of an airplane?

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