Formula to calculate amount of force needed to lift/hover

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on calculating the thrust required for a drone to hover based on its weight. The consensus is that thrust must equal or exceed the weight of the drone, quantified as 9.8 Newtons per kilogram at Earth's surface. To achieve effective hovering, thrust must be significantly greater than weight, ideally 2 to 3 times the weight, to allow for ascent and recovery from conditions like Vortex Ring State. The formula F=ma is essential for calculating thrust, where 'F' is thrust in Newtons, 'm' is mass in kilograms, and 'a' is acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s²).

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Newton's Second Law (F=ma)
  • Basic knowledge of thrust and weight in physics
  • Familiarity with drone mechanics and aerodynamics
  • Awareness of Vortex Ring State in rotorcraft
NEXT STEPS
  • Research drone design principles for optimal thrust-to-weight ratios
  • Learn about Vortex Ring State and its implications for drone flight
  • Explore thrust generation methods in drone propulsion systems
  • Study the effects of weight distribution on drone stability and performance
USEFUL FOR

Aerospace engineers, drone enthusiasts, hobbyists designing drones, and anyone interested in understanding the physics of flight and thrust generation.

ARC123
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I was thinking off building a drone and I was just curious about what the amount of thrust we need to be in order to hover based on weight
 
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ARC123 said:
I was thinking off building a drone and I was just curious about what the amount of thrust we need to be in order to hover based on weight

I'm scratching my head here quite a bit.

"Thrust" is a force. You know the weight (mg) of the object. Shouldn't the thrust be at least equal to the weight?

Zz.
 
ZapperZ said:
I'm scratching my head here quite a bit.

"Thrust" is a force. You know the weight (mg) of the object. Shouldn't the thrust be at least equal to the weight?

Zz.
Sorry if this I said stupid question but I don't know. So is 1 Newton of force required to hover 1 gram?
 
ARC123 said:
Sorry if this I said stupid question but I don't know. So is 1 Newton of force required to hover 1 gram?
No, it's 9.8 Newtons per kilogram at Earth's surface.

But is this really the question you want to ask or are you really needing to figure out how to generate the thrust?
 
russ_watters said:
No, it's 9.8 Newtons per kilogram at Earth's surface.

But is this really the question you want to ask or are you really needing to figure out how to generate the thrust?
No the answer you gave me is what I was looking for I just couldn't find how much it would take to lift 1 gram. I thought it would be around .098 or something like that. But I was wondering if there was a formula so that i just plug in the mass and I get the thrust in Newtons.
 
F=ma
 
Blibbler said:
F=ma
So then to calculate something hovering would acceleration be 9.8 and mass always kilograms?
 
The thrust has to be significantly greater than the weight in order for the drone to be able to climb or to be able to slow down from a descent. The thrust needs to be well more than double (perhaps 3x or more) the weight in order to be able to power out of Vortex Ring State, a condition that occurs when descending fast enough for the air to flow upwards near the hub of each rotor. Vortex Ring State can also be recovered from by moving laterally and applying throttle if there's not enough power to climb out of it.
 

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