ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Kutta–Joukowski theorem

Okay, so imagine you have a toy airplane that you want to fly. When you throw it, it goes up and then comes back down, right? That's because of gravity! But what if I told you that there's something else that helps the airplane stay up in the air?

This is where the Kutty-Joukowski theorem comes in. It's a very fancy way of saying that if you make a special kind of wing shape called an airfoil, then air can flow over the top and bottom of it differently, creating a force called lift that lifts the airplane up and helps it stay in the air.

But why does that happen? Well, when air flows over an airfoil, it has to go around both the top and bottom of the wing. The air on the bottom moves faster than the air on the top, which creates a difference in pressure between the top and bottom of the wing. This difference in pressure creates a force called lift, which pushes the wing (and the airplane) up into the air.

The Kutty-Joukowski theorem says that the amount of lift that the wing creates is related to the speed of the air flowing over the wing, the density of the air, and the shape of the wing itself. Scientists use this theorem to design better wings and airplanes that can fly more efficiently and safely.

So, to sum it up: Kutty-Joukowski theorem is a fancy way of saying that a special wing shape called an airfoil can create a force called lift that helps airplanes stay in the air.