Ask an Explainer
Q:
Sometimes I see birds not flapping their wings but still getting higher in the air. How does that work?
A:
Air is not uniform: some ares are warmer, and some colder. Hot air rises because it has very high pressure. Birds take advantage of this by extending their wings, increasing their surface area, and riding this colunm of hot air up without having to work.
Posted on January 2, 2014 at 6:34 pm
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