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Quad copters move up into the air using rotating propeller blades that produce thrust, just like a helicopter. As the blades spin, they create faster moving, lower pressure air on top, and slower moving, higher pressure air on the bottom. This difference in pressure pushes the quad copter into the sky.

To calculate its thrust, you need to calculate the mass flow, or the amount of air going throgh the propellers, and multiply it by the difference in velocity at both ends.