Aviation & Aeronautics
Intermediate

Lift Equation

Aerodynamic lift produced by a wing depends on air density, speed squared, area and lift coefficient.

Formula

L=12ρv2SCLL = \tfrac{1}{2}\rho v^2 S C_L

Variables

LLift
\rhoAir density
vTrue airspeed
SWing area
C_LLift coefficient

Example

Because lift grows with v², an aircraft at 200 kt makes four times the lift it does at 100 kt.

Did You Know?

Lift grows with the square of speed, so doubling airspeed quadruples the lift a wing can produce.

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