1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,920 What are you doing? 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:04,920 I'm just looking at some of our new lightweight materials. 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,960 We need to learn about weight. 4 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,480 Well you just learned that thrust is opposite to drag, and lift is what makes the airplane 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,480 go up, and weight pulls it back down in a pull of gravity. 6 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:16,480 Yes, we just learned about that. 7 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:17,480 Well in order for the airplane to fly, the lift force has to be greater than the weight 8 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:18,480 of the airplane. 9 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:19,480 And the lighter the airplane is, the easier it's going to be to lift the airplane. 10 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:20,480 So for the same size wings, a lighter airplane is going to have less weight. 11 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:25,060 That's exactly right. 12 00:00:25,060 --> 00:00:35,580 But there's another benefit of having a lighter airplane also. 13 00:00:35,580 --> 00:00:36,580 There is? 14 00:00:36,580 --> 00:00:37,580 Sure. 15 00:00:37,580 --> 00:00:43,100 For the same amount of force, or thrust, the lighter airplane will actually go farther. 16 00:00:43,100 --> 00:00:46,000 As an example, let's say you're pushing two kids on a swing. 17 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,920 Who's going to go farther, the kid that's lighter or the kid that's heavier? 18 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,800 The lighter kid will go farther. 19 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:52,800 That's exactly right. 20 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,440 So for the same amount of engine or thrust force, a lighter airplane is actually going 21 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:57,880 to fly farther. 22 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,880 Aeronautical engineers say that the airplane has greater range or maximum flight distance. 23 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:03,880 Cool. 24 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,800 Yeah, and lighter airplanes actually use less fuel too, so they're better for the environment 25 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:08,800 as well. 26 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,480 What research do you do here to make planes lighter? 27 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,120 Well, we're trying to figure out how to make the materials that airplanes are made out 28 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:16,720 of a whole lot lighter. 29 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:21,280 You see, today, most airplanes are made out of metal, like this piece right here. 30 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,280 It's really strong, but it's also really heavy. 31 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:26,480 Man, that is heavy. 32 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:27,840 Yeah, it sure is. 33 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:29,560 Well, we're researching something brand new. 34 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,840 It's called composite materials. 35 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,440 Composite materials are really strong, but they're also really lightweight. 36 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,600 Here's a really big piece of composites right back here. 37 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:39,600 Can you help me with this piece? 38 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:40,600 I don't know if I can help. 39 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:41,600 It looks kind of heavy. 40 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:42,600 I might not be able to lift it. 41 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:43,600 Give it a try. 42 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:44,600 Wow, that's really light. 43 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:45,600 Sure is. 44 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:46,600 Composite materials are already being used in a lot of military airplanes because they're 45 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:47,600 really lightweight, but they're also strong. 46 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:48,600 We're also looking at another kind of material that's really interesting. 47 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:49,600 It actually bends and twists when activated, or it can pop up and down when activated, 48 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:50,600 too. 49 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:51,600 What's that? 50 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:52,600 They're called smart materials. 51 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:53,600 Smart material? 52 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:54,600 I'm a smart material. 53 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:55,600 Yes, you are. 54 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:56,600 This is an example of a smart material. 55 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:57,600 This is called nitinol, and when you bend or twist it, it'll actually go back to being 56 00:01:57,600 --> 00:01:58,600 completely flat when you heat it up. 57 00:01:58,600 --> 00:01:59,600 If you want to try it out, you can go to our website. 58 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:00,600 We have a whole bunch of materials that you can try out. 59 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:01,600 You can try it out. 60 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:02,600 You can try it out. 61 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:03,600 You can try it out. 62 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:04,600 You can try it out. 63 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:05,600 You can try it out. 64 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:07,020 completely flat when you heat it up. 65 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:14,380 If you want to try bending it up, then I'll heat it up, and I'll show you how it works. 66 00:02:14,380 --> 00:02:18,840 There you go. 67 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:20,320 That's great. 68 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:26,180 Now when we heat it up, it goes back to being completely flat, as you can see. 69 00:02:26,180 --> 00:02:27,180 Wow. 70 00:02:27,180 --> 00:02:28,180 That's cool. 71 00:02:28,180 --> 00:02:29,640 How is that going to help an airplane? 72 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:34,340 Well, you can take this material and put it in the wings of an airplane and make the airplane 73 00:02:34,340 --> 00:02:35,400 wings bend or twist. 74 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,200 Or even simulate little pop-up feathers like what birds use to fly. 75 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,680 Why would you want smart materials to mimic a bird's flight? 76 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:44,680 That's a good question. 77 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,320 Well, for their size, birds are really good flyers. 78 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:53,400 And we're hoping that if some of our smaller airplanes can fly more like birds and bend 79 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,320 or twist their wings and fly to adjust for the different flight conditions while they're 80 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,840 flying along, they can actually be much better flyers. 81 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,200 I don't think we can buy smart materials, but maybe we can make our A-car and lighter. 82 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:07,000 Maybe we should use a phone car. 83 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:08,000 Yes. 84 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,000 Now we need to test it. 85 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:09,500 Or experiment.