Physics for Aviation
Physics for Aviation is a core knowledge area on the AMT — General FAA written exam. This hub collects our 16 in-depth, ACS-aligned physics for aviation articles — each written in plain English and grounded in the official FAA handbooks. Work through them below, then drill the topic with practice questions.
Bernoulli's Principle and Venturi Effect in Aircraft Systems
Bernoulli's Principle explains how increasing fluid velocity decreases pressure, a relationship that underlies lift generation, carburetor operation, and many other critical aircraft systems.
Newton's Three Laws of Motion Applied to Aircraft
Newton's three laws of motion form the physical foundation of flight — understanding inertia, force-acceleration relationships, and action-reaction pairs explains how aircraft accelerate, maneuver, and how thrust works.
Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy in Aviation Context
Potential and kinetic energy are the two foundational mechanical energy forms that govern how aircraft climb, descend, accelerate, and maneuver — understanding both is essential for every aviation maintenance technician.
Stress and Strain in Aircraft Structures
Stress and strain describe how aircraft materials respond to applied forces — understanding both is essential for building, inspecting, and maintaining safe airframes.
Thermal Expansion and Contraction of Aircraft Materials
Aircraft materials expand when heated and contract when cooled; understanding coefficients of thermal expansion is essential for safe assembly, inspection, and maintenance of airframes, engines, and systems.
Gas Laws: Boyle's Law, Charles's Law, and Gay-Lussac's Law for Aviation
Boyle's, Charles's, and Gay-Lussac's Laws describe how pressure, volume, and temperature interact in gases — essential knowledge for understanding aircraft pneumatic systems, tires, oxygen systems, and engine performance.
Friction: Static, Sliding, and Rolling in Aircraft Systems
Static, sliding, and rolling friction each behave differently and directly affect aircraft braking, landing gear, control cables, and engine components — understanding all three is essential for safe maintenance decisions.
Principles of Simple Machines and Mechanical Advantage in Aircraft
Simple machines—levers, pulleys, inclined planes, wedges, screws, and wheel-and-axle systems—form the mechanical foundation of aircraft control systems and tools; understanding their mechanical advantage is essential for every AMT.
Centrifugal Force and Centripetal Force in Rotating Aircraft Components
Centripetal and centrifugal forces govern the behavior of every spinning component in an aircraft—from propellers to turbine discs—and understanding them is essential for safe maintenance and FAA knowledge test success.
Density and Specific Gravity of Aviation Fluids
Density and specific gravity are fundamental fluid properties that every aviation maintenance technician must understand to correctly identify, handle, and work with aircraft fluids from fuel to hydraulic oil.
Work, Power, and Torque in Aircraft Powerplants
Work, power, and torque are foundational physics concepts that govern how aircraft engines produce and transmit energy — understanding them is essential for every aviation maintenance technician.
Sound Waves, Frequency, and Vibration in Aviation Maintenance
Sound waves and vibration are fundamental physics concepts that aviation maintenance technicians must master to diagnose engine problems, perform NDT inspections, and understand structural fatigue — all grounded in FAA AMT principles.
Pressure Measurement: Absolute, Gauge, and Differential in Aviation
Aviation maintenance technicians must master three pressure measurement types—absolute, gauge, and differential—because engines, airframes, and instruments each demand the correct reference for safe, accurate readings.
Heat Transfer: Conduction, Convection, and Radiation in Aircraft
Aircraft structures and systems manage heat through three mechanisms—conduction, convection, and radiation—each of which AMT candidates must understand to diagnose thermal problems and maintain safe, efficient aircraft.
Fluid Dynamics: Laminar vs Turbulent Flow in Aircraft Fuel and Hydraulic Systems
Laminar and turbulent flow behave very differently in aircraft fuel and hydraulic lines, directly affecting system efficiency, pressure loss, and component life — understanding both is essential for every AMT.
Gyroscopic Precession and Rigidity in Space for Aviation Instruments
Gyroscopic precession and rigidity in space are the two fundamental properties that make gyroscope-based flight instruments — attitude indicators, heading indicators, and turn coordinators — reliable and accurate in flight.
More AMT — General subjects
Articles are original summaries grounded in the public-domain FAA handbooks and cite their source. ACS-aligned study aids — not a substitute for the official handbooks or regulations.