Students in Dr. Brennan’s Advanced Physics: Classical Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism class traveled to iFly Indoor Skydiving in Yonkers in January.
After studying the effects of air resistance in class, the students explored the topic personally by donning jumpsuits and entering a large wind tunnel. The intense upward air current inside (with wind speeds up to 100 mph) was enough to balance their weight, allowing them to be suspended within the wind tunnel. Students also learned to leverage the position of their bodies within the wind to raise and lower themselves, as well as spin in place. Afterward, an instructor did several demos within the wind tunnel for the students to observe, such as the effect of the wind tunnel on droplets of water and the lift properties of many different-shaped objects.