Fields in Fields
Christopher Yoder
Award: Top 100
School: conemaugh township high school
Teacher: jakeb rising
Category: Natural
Photo #20805
Fields in Fields
The image shows an Agraspray J150 agricultural drone hovering above a field while spraying crops. The drone weighs about 175 lbs with a full battery, has a wingspan of roughly 12 feet, and can carry over 300 lbs. It is designed for agricultural use, including spraying crops and planting seeds from the air.
This image clearly demonstrates the physics of lift through Newton's Third Law of Motion. The drone's eight propellers spin at extremely high speeds, forcing large amounts of air downward in a process called downwash. As the propellers push air toward the ground, the air pushes upward on the drone with an equal and opposite force, creating lift and allowing it to hover steadily above the field. The flattened grass below the drone is a visible representation of this downward airflow, making the strength and direction of the airflow visually apparent spreading across the ground and illustrating the concept of a vector field acting on the field. The propeller blades are shaped like airfoils, similar to airplane wings, which create differences in air pressure that help generate lift. At the time of this picture, the drone was about 79 kg (174 lbs). Therefore, the drone required about 774 N of upward force to remain airborne. This force is spread across the drone's propeller system to keep it stable while hovering. This image captures the invisible: air movement, thrust, and lift ; the physics is visible in the dancing grass.
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