Air Time
SELIN EYISOY
Award: Top 100
School: vkv koc high school
Teacher: meryem ertan
Category: Natural
Photo #21299
Air Time
While watching kitesurfers along the coast, I noticed one rider suddenly rise high above the water and appear to float in the sky for a brief moment. From a distance, it almost looked as if the rider had escaped gravity. This made me wonder how someone could jump so high and stay airborne for so long using only a kite and wind?
The answer is found in the forces acting on the rider and energy transfer during the jump. The large kite captures energy from moving air and creates lift which is an upward force that helps counteract gravity. As the rider accelerates upwards kinetic energy is converted into gravitational potential energy. At the highest point of the jump (shown in photograph) the rider has reached maximum height meaning the greatest amount of gravitational potential energy exists and the vertical component of velocity is zero at the highest point of the ride.
Kitesurfers remain connected to their kite throughout the jump and are able to experience control by tension in lines allowing the kite to continue exerting forcing on the rider creating both trajectory and descent. Gravity continuously pulls downward while the kite provides lift and allows a smooth curved path through air. What appears to be flight is actually complex interaction between wind, gravity, momentum & energy transfers. The combination of these forces allows kitesurfers to perform impressive jumps and create the unique scene shown in photograph.
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