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Air Track - Sailing Upwind

Purpose

To show how force components can be used to sail against the wind.

Equipment

Air track, glider with sail, and fan, as photographed.

Images

c5-31

Description

A sail is attached as shown to an air track glider. Wind from a fan blows the sailboat in the direction from which the wind is coming if the angle of the wind and the sail are correct.

References

Nathan Brown, Vector Addition and the Speeding Ticket, TPT 31, 274-276 (1993).