Computing Airplane Stopping Distance 1.0

This article (COMPUTING AIRPLANE STOPPING DISTANCE) presents two applications of derivatives (a beginning calculus topic) related to computing the distance required to stop an airplane. This is an important problem because this distance must be within the constraints of the runways where a plane might land. First, we look at using curve-fitting techniques to develop an equation for brake force that insures a smooth transition from zero braking to full braking force. Second, we develop equations for the deceleration and speed of an airplane and show how we can numerically solve these equations (simple differential equations) to obtain an approximate value for stopping distance. Example data and results are presented for several different airplane models.