QUESTION
Consider a gliding seed similar to that of Alsomitra macrocarpa(Fig. 12.11a, also p. 261). The seed has a mass of 250 mg., afunctional lift-to-drag ratio of 4.0, a lift coefficient under thesame conditions of 0.3, and a wing area of 5000 mm^2. The seed isreleased 15 m above the ground and reaches its final velocityessentially immediately. a. In still air, what is the greatesthorizontal distance it can go from the point of release? b. Howlong will it take to hit the ground? c. If the seed is releasedinto a temporally steady, spatially uniform, horizontal wind of 5 ms-1, how far will it go, (i) gliding with the wind, and (ii)gliding into the wind? d. In still air, the velocity along theglide path is about?