Parasitic drag (also called parasite drag) is drag caused by moving a solid object through a fluid. Parasitic drag is made up of many components, the most prominent being form drag. Skin friction and interference drag are also major components of parasitic drag. For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external fluid flow. ... In aerodynamics, form drag, profile drag, or pressure drag, is a component of parasitic drag. ... In Aerodynamics, skin friction is the component of parasitic drag arising from the friction of the fluid against the skin of the object that is moving through it. ... In aerodynamics, interference drag is a component of parasitic drag which is caused by vortices. ...
In aviation, induced drag tends to be greater at lower speeds because a high angle of attack is required to maintain lift. However, as speed increases the induced becomes much less, but parasitic drag necessarily increases because the fluid is flowing faster. At even higher speeds in the transonic, wave drag enters the picture. Each of these forms of drag changes in proportion to the others based on speed. The combined overall drag curve therefore shows a minimum at some airspeed - an aircraft flying at this speed will be at or close to its optimal efficiency. Pilots will use this speed to maximise endurance (minimum fuel consumption), or maximise gliding range in the event of an engine failure. In aerodynamics, lift-induced drag, or more simply, induced drag, is a drag force arising from the generation of lift by wings or a lifting body during flight. ... In this diagram, the black arrow represents the direction of the wind. ... Transonic is an aeronautics term referring to a range of velocities just below and above the speed of sound. ... Wave drag is an aerodynamics term that refers to a sudden and very powerful form of drag that appears on aircraft flying at high-subsonic speeds. ... Glide ratio is an aviation term that refers to the distance an aircraft will move forward for any given amount of lost altitude (the cotangent of the downward angle). ...
For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external fluid flow.
Beyond these two kinds of drag there is a third kind of drag, called wave drag, that occurs when the solid object is moving through the fluid at or near the speed of sound in that fluid.
The overall drag of an object is characterized by a dimensionless number called the drag coefficient, and is calculated using the drag equation.