Lift on curved surfaces comes from a pressure gradient, not the Bernoulli effect
Evidence
The Bernoulli effect was used to explain the origin of this energy input to the system to cause the lips (or vocal folds) to move toward each other, but it turns out to be specious. … This means that the pressure at the surface of the curve must be lower than atmospheric pressure (as would be found well away from the surface where the airflow is not curved), which produces a force away from the center of curvature that can lift an aircraft’s wing, drive a yacht’s sail or lift the piece of paper (left side of Figure 4.25). — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1238
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- XREF: Shows same curved-surface pressure-gradient mechanism unifies aircraft wings, sails, and the vibrating lips/vocal folds that drive wind instruments.
- CANDY: A commonly-told ‘Bernoulli effect’ explanation for lift is not actually what the phenomenon is.
Related
- Curved-surface airflow, not the Bernoulli effect, drives lip vibration. (similarity 0.93)
- The vocal folds vibrate via pressure changes from curved airflow, not the Bernoulli effect (similarity 0.89)
- The Bernoulli effect couples airflow velocity to reduced pressure at constrictions (similarity 0.82)
- Lip vibration self-sustains through Bernoulli pressure and elastic recoil (similarity 0.81)
- Bernoulli’s airflow across curved lips initiates their vibration (similarity 0.81)
Broader Connections
- Bernoulli’s airflow across curved lips initiates their vibration
#contradicts(0.85) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1240 - Elastic recoil and momentum, not Bernoulli effect, mainly close the vocal folds
#corroborates(0.80) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 1661