Parasitic drag

When you go outside to play, do you feel the wind blowing against you? That wind can make it harder for you to move around, right? Well, that's like what happens to planes when they fly in the sky. They have to push through the air, and that makes it harder for them to move forward. This is called air resistance, and it's also called drag.

Now, sometimes there's a special kind of drag that happens when things move through the air. This drag is called "parasitic drag." It's a fancy name for a certain kind of air resistance that happens when planes or other objects move through the air. It's called parasitic because it doesn't really help the plane or object move better, like some other kinds of drag can. Instead, it just makes it harder for them to keep going.

So, when planes fly through the air, they have to deal with parasitic drag. This drag comes from a lot of different sources, like the wings, the fuselage (that's the big body of the plane), and even the tiny little rivets and screws that hold everything together. Basically, anything that sticks out or creates a bump on the plane can cause parasitic drag.

As a result, planes have to be designed very carefully to minimize parasitic drag. Sometimes this means making the wings and body very smooth and streamlined, like a dolphin or a fish. Other times it means putting covers over the wheels or other parts of the plane that might create drag. All of these little details help the plane move more easily through the air, which is important when you're flying thousands of feet up in the sky!