This week was extremely productive. I set myself the goal of figuring out Jerk Curves and beginning Air Resistance. Both of these objectives have been met and I’ve begun organizing thoughts of staging as well. Figuring out Jerk Curves was pretty easy. It was mostly just taking the time to sit down and actually do the math. I just had to use the equation F=ma to calculate acceleration and the difference between the start and end acceleration. From there I had a Jerk equation which I substituted into the flight path equation I already had, and a little Algebra later I had arrived at my Jerk Curve Equation.
Air Resistance was a bit harder, as I had to find something online to teach it to me. (Unfortunately, my scientific and mathematical abilities do not go far enough to figure Air Resistance out on my own.) I found a relatively simple video that put it in a very easy way to learn. Within the equation, the Drag Coefficient causes the most trouble. It’s the sum of all the forces of the air flowing around the object, which basically makes it a catch-all for the complex stuff. Luckily, I can run tests with anything I build beforehand to get the Drag Coefficient without learning the entire field of aerodynamics.
