ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Sears–Haack body

Imagine you are playing with a toy boat in a bathtub. You notice that when the boat moves really fast, it creates waves and splashes water all around it. Now, imagine you want to make your toy boat move even faster, without making all the splashing and waves. That's where the Sears-Haack body comes in.

The Sears-Haack body is a shape that was invented to be used on boats, airplanes, and rockets. It's a body that is designed to create as little drag or resistance as possible as it moves through the air or water. Think of drag as the force that slows something down when it moves, like when you try to run really fast with a backpack on.

The shape of the Sears-Haack body looks almost like a teardrop, or a water drop that you might find on the edge of a leaf. This shape allows the air or water to move smoothly over the body, without creating too much turbulence or disturbance. The less disturbance there is, the less drag there is, and the faster the object can go.

So, if you were to attach a Sears-Haack shaped body to your toy boat and make it move fast, it would glide smoothly through the water without making too much splashing or waves. And if you were to build a big airplane or rocket with a Sears-Haack body, it could fly through the air really fast and efficiently, without using up as much fuel or energy.