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28-01-2021
Column: Nature Notes - FOILS
Column: Nature Notes - FOILS
However, all utilise foils in locomotion. Foils are solid objects; when in a moving fluid (gas or liquid) foils have the shape and angle to create a pressure difference between the two sides of the foil, the force of the oncoming fluid resolves into two components - lift (vertical and perpendicular) acting at a right angle to the direction of motion and drag (horizontal and parallel) which acts in the opposite direction of motion.
Foils in air and water work according to the same principles and have a similar basic shape - curved on top and flatter underneath, so pressure reduces on top and increases underneath to produce lift. Because water is around 800 times denser than air, hydrofoils (water) can be much smaller than aerofoils (air). The contrast between hydrofoils and aerofoils can be illustrated in nature by comparing the thin tapered shape of penguins' wings used for swimming underwater with the hypertrophied stretched pectoral fins of flying fish used for gliding in the air.
There are numerous species

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