1. Absolute altitude is the height of the aircraft above the terrain over which it is flying.

2. absolute temperature a temperature measured from absolute zero in kelvins.

3. absolute unit a unit of measurement that is defined in terms of the fundamental

units of a system (mass, length, and time) and is not based on arbitrary definitions.

4. acceleration increase in the rate or speed of something

5. adiabatic process is one that occurs without transfer of heat or matter between a
thermodynamic system and its surroundings.

6. Adiabatic cooling is the process of reducing heat through a change in air pressure caused
by volume expansion.
7. Aerodynamics
8. The aerodynamic center is the point at which the pitching moment coefficient for the airfoil
does not vary with lift coefficient (i.e. angle of attack), so this choice makes analysis simpler
.
9. Aerodynamic force is exerted on a body by the air (or some other gas) in which the body is
immersed, and is due to the relative motion between the body and the gas.
10. A stall is a condition in aerodynamics and aviationwherein the angle of attack increases
beyond a certain point such that lift begins to decrease.
11. Air density is the mass of air per unit of volume it occupies, and it is expressed in kilograms
per cubic meter when using the metric system.
12. airflow the flow of air, especially that encountered by a moving aircraft or vehicle.
13. Airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air.
14. Air velocity is a parameter that often is referenced in thermal design.
15. Angular eccentricity is one of many parameters which arise in the study of the ellipse or
ellipsoid.
16. angular momentum the quantity of rotation of a body, which is the product of its
moment of inertia and its angular velocity.
17. aspect ratio the ratio of the span to the mean chord of an airfoil.
18. Atmosphere
19. altitude the height of an object or point in relation to sea level or ground level.
20. Bernoulli's principle the principle in hydrodynamics that an increase in the
velocity of a stream of fluid results in a decrease in pressure. Also called Bernoulli
effect or Bernoulli theorem.
21. boundary layer a layer of more or less stationary fluid (such as water or air)
immediately surrounding an immersed object in relative motion with the fluid.
22. Boyle's law is a gas law, stating that the pressure and volume of a gas have an inverse
relationship, when temperature is held constant.
23. Compressible flow (gas dynamics) is the branch of fluidmechanics that deals with flows
having significant changes in fluid density. Gases, mostly, display such behaviour.
24. Compressible flow (gas dynamics) is the branch of fluid mechanics that deals
with flows having significant changes in fluid density. Gases, mostly, display such
behaviour.
25. conservation of energy a principle stating that energy cannot be created or
destroyed, but can be altered from one form to another.
26. conservation of mass a principle stating that mass cannot be created or
destroyed.
27. conservation of momentum. A conservation law stating that the total
linear momentum of a closed system remains constant through time, regardless of other
possible changes within the system.
28. A continuity equation in physics is an equation that describes the transport of some
quantity. It is particularly simple and particularly powerful when applied to a conserved
quantity, but it can be generalized to apply to any extensive quantity.
29. deflection the action or process of deflecting or being deflected.

"the deflection of the light beam"

30. Density
31. diffuser a device that spreads the light from a light source evenly and reduces
harsh shadows.

32. A dihedral angle is the angle between two intersecting planes. In chemistry it is
the angle between planes through two sets of three atoms, having two atoms in common. In
solid geometry it is defined as the union of a line and two half-planes that have this line as a
common edge.
33. A dimension is the measurement of something in physical space.
 34. Downforce is a downwards thrust created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car. The
purpose of downforce is to allow a car to travel faster through a corner by increasing the
vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip.
35. downwash the downward deflection of an airstream by an aircraft wing or
helicopter rotor blade.
36. Drag pull (someone or something) along forcefully, roughly, or with difficulty.
37. Dynamic pressure is the kinetic energy per unit volume of a fluid particle. Dynamic
pressure is in fact one of the terms of Bernoulli's equation, which can be derived from the
conservation of energy for a fluid in motion.
38. dynamic similarity refers to the phenomenon that when there are two geometrically similar
vessels (same shape, different sizes) with the same boundary conditions (ex. No-slip,
center-line velocity) and the same Reynolds and Womersley numbers, then the fluid flows
will be identical.
39. The dynamical stability of a ship at any inclination is defined as the work done in heeling
the vessel to that inclination.
40. dynamic viscosity a quantity measuring the force needed to overcome internal
friction in a fluid.
41. enthalpy a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the total heat content of a system.
It is equal to the internal energy of the system plus the product of pressure and
volume.
o the change in enthalpy associated with a particular chemical process.

42. entropy a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's

thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree
of disorder or randomness in the system.

43. equipotential (of a surface or line) composed of points all at the same potential.
44. Euler's formula, named after Leonhard Euler, is a mathematical formula in complex
analysis that establishes the fundamental relationship between the trigonometric functions
and the complex exponential function.
45. fluid a substance that has no fixed shape and yields easily to external pressure; a
gas or (especially) a liquid.
46. Flux the action or process of flowing or flowing out.
47. Force strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
48. form drag that part of the drag on an airfoil that arises from its shape. It varies
according to the angle of attack and can be decreased by streamlining.
49. Free vortex flows are the plane circular vortex flows where the total mechanical energy
remains constant in the entire flow field. There is neither any addition nor any destruction of
energy in the flow field.
50. Friction Drag, also known as Skin Friction Drag, is drag caused by the friction of a fluid
against the surface of an object that is moving through it. It is directly proportional to the
area of the surface in contact with the fluid and increases with the square of the velocity.
51. Gas an airlike fluid substance which expands freely to fill any space available,
irrespective of its quantity.
52. Gauss's Law. The total of the electric flux out of a closed surface is equal to the charge
enclosed divided by the permittivity. The electric flux through an area is defined as the
electric field multiplied by the area of the surface projected in a plane perpendicular to the
field.
53. Definition of gliding angle. : the angle between the plane of the horizon and the path of
a glider or airplane; especially : the least angle at which a glider or airplane will glide to
earth in still air.
54. gradient an increase or decrease in the magnitude of a property (e.g.,
temperature, pressure, or concentration) observed in passing from one point or
moment to another.
55. Helmholtz free energy is a thermodynamic potential that measures the useful work
obtainable from a closed thermodynamic system at a constant temperature and volume
56. hodograph a curve, the radius vector of which represents in magnitude and
direction the velocity of a moving object.
57. a homentropic flow has uniform and constant entropy. It distinguishes itself from an isentropic
or particle isentropic flow, where the entropy level of each fluid particle does not change with
time, but may vary from particle to particle. This means that a homentropic flow is necessarily
isentropic, but an isentropic flow need not be homentropic.
58. ideal fluid is one with constant density and null viscosity coefficient"
59. incidence the intersection of a line, or something moving in a straight line, such as
a beam of light, with a surface.
60. incompressible flow (isochoric flow) refers to a flow in which the material density is
constant within a fluidparcelan infinitesimal volume that moves with the flow velocity.
61. internal energy the energy in a system arising from the relative positions and
interactions of its parts.
62. Intrinsic energy of a body. (Physics) the work it can do in virtue of its actual condition,
without any supply of energy from without.
63. The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) is an atmosphericmodel of how the
pressure, temperature, density, and viscosity of the Earth's atmosphere change over a wide
range of altitudes or elevations.
64. Joule's law. the principle that the rate of production of heat by a constant direct current is
directly proportional to the resistance of the circuit and to the square of the current. the
principle that the internal energy of a given mass of an ideal gas is solely a function of its
temperature.
65. Definition of Mach angle. : half of the vertex angle of a Mach cone whose sine is the ratio
of the speed of sound to the speed of a moving body.
66. mnemonic a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists
in remembering something.
67. modulus another term for absolute value.
68. momentum the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its
mass and velocity.
69. parameter a quantity whose value is selected for the particular circumstances and
in relation to which other variable quantities may be expressed.

70. phugoid or fugoid /fjud/ is an aircraft motion where the vehicle pitches up and climbs,
and then pitches down and descends, accompanied by speeding up and slowing down as it
goes "downhill" and "uphill."

71. the pitching moment on an airfoil is the moment (or torque) produced by the aerodynamic
force on the airfoil if that aerodynamic force is considered to be applied, not at the center of
pressure, but at the aerodynamic center of the airfoil.

72. pitot tube an open-ended right-angled tube pointing into the flow of a fluid and
used to measure pressure.

73. A pitot-static system is a system of pressure-sensitive instruments that is most often used
in aviation to determine an aircraft's airspeed, Mach number, altitude, and altitude trend.
A pitot-static system generally consists of a pitot tube, a staticport, and the pitot-
static instruments.
74. potential energy the energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position relative
to others, stresses within itself, electric charge, and other factors.
75. Pressure altitude is the height above a standard datum plane (SDP), which is a theoretical
level where the weight of the atmosphere is 29.92 "Hg (1,013.2 mb) as measured by a
barometer. An altimeter is essentially a sensitive barometer calibrated to indicate altitude in
the standard atmosphere.
76. pressure the continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by
something in contact with it.
77. propeller a mechanical device for propelling a boat or aircraft, consisting of a
revolving shaft with two or more broad, angled blades attached to it.
78. he relative wind is the direction of movement of the atmosphere relative to an aircraft or an
airfoil.
79. roll moment is the aerodynamic force applied at a distance from an aircraft's center of mass
that causes the aircraft to undergo angular acceleration about its roll axis. The roll axis is
usually defined as the longitudinal axis, which runs from the nose to the tail of the aircraft.
80. scalar (of a quantity) having only magnitude, not direction.
81. Definition of scale effect. : the correction necessary to apply to measurements made on a
model in a wind tunnel in order to deduce corresponding values for the full-sized object.
82. sonic relating to or using sound waves.
a. denoting or having a speed equal to that of sound.

83. speed of light definition. The distance light can travel in a unit of time through a given
substance. Light travels through a vacuum at about 186,000 miles, or 300,000 kilometers,
per second. ( See E = mc 2, electromagnetic waves, relativity, and twin paradox.)
84. The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit time by a sound wave as it
propagates through an elastic medium. In dry air at 20 C (68 F), the speed of sound is
343.2 metres per second (1,126 ft/s; 1,236 km/h; 768 mph; 667 kn), or a kilometre in 2.914 s
or a mile in 4.689 s.
85. wave drag is a component of the aerodynamic drag on aircraft wings and fuselage,
propeller blade tips and projectiles moving at transonic and supersonic speeds, due to the
presence of shock waves.
86. Wave speed is the speed at which a wave travels. Wave speed is related to wavelength,
frequency, and period by the equation wave speed = frequency x wavelength. The most
commonly used wave speed is the speed of visible light, an electromagnetic wave.
87. Stagnant point
88. Static port
89. Static pressure
90. stratosphere
91. subsonic relating to or flying at a speed or speeds less than that of sound.
92. supersonic involving or denoting a speed greater than that of sound.
93. Supersonic wind tunnel
94. Temperature altitude
95. Temperature
96. Transonic wind tunnel
97. Troposphere
98. vector a quantity having direction as well as magnitude, especially as determining
the position of one point in space relative to another.
99. velocity the speed of something in a given direction.
"the velocities of the emitted particles"
100. The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows
through a constricted section (or choke) of a pipe.
101. Viscosity
102. vortex a mass of whirling fluid or air, especially a whirlpool or whirlwind.
103. Vorticity is mathematically defined as the curl of the velocity field and is hence a
measure of local rotation of the fluid. This definition makes it a vector quantity. Circulation,
on the other hand, is a scalar quantity defined as the line integral of the velocity field along
a closed contour.
104. wind tunnel a tunnel-like apparatus for producing an airstream of known velocity
past models of aircraft, buildings, etc., in order to investigate flow or the effect of
wind on the full-size object. an open space through which strong winds are
channeled by surrounding tall buildings.
105. windmill a building with sails or vanes that turn in the wind and generate power
to grind grain into flour.
106. wing tip the tip of the wing of an aircraft, bird, or other animal.
107. The yaw moment is the moment about the zbody axis and is positive if it moves the
nose of. the plane to the right. The big contributor to the yaw moment is the vertical tail.