By Brooke Norman
So how can the concepts we just learned help me in the future?
Let's explore the act of flying a plane.
Before a pilot can even think about flying a plane, they
must do all sorts of mathematical calculations. They must determine their flight pattern, this is usually
done by the air traffic controller though. They use a national coordinate
system to do this.
There is also something called the State Plane Coordinate System. This divides all 50 states, Puerto
Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands into 120 numbered sections. Pilots use coordinates, usually calling
them bearings. They must know the
correct coordinates of their current location and the correct coordinates of
their destination. This enables
them to determine the correct flight path.
A very important factor in flying is the take-off and the
landing. Two major issues in these
steps are the length of the runway and the slope of the runway. The pilot has to gain a certain
altitude by a certain point, so the angle of take-off is important. This angle of take-off is also the
slope of the line the plane is flying in.
Another important aspect when flying is being able to make
an emergency landing. If there
is ever an emergency, a pilot must know how to handle the situation correctly
and 'crash' as safely has possible.
It is important that right before the pilot lands the plane,it needs
to have it as parallel to the surface as it can get.
If the plane is being landed on a slope, the pilot must try to get
the slope of the plane equal to the slope of the land. This provides a much smoother landing.
There are many more mathematical concepts in flying planes. These were just a few that pertained to my unit. It gets very complicated and could lead the students astray from being interested if you go into too much detail, but could interest them into researching the topic if they are really fascinated.
