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Why do some ships have sails? |
by Brian Griffin (whyzz writer) >> more about the author
Fly a Kite
If you don't happen to be a very young sailboat captain, there's a way you can see the power of the wind at or near your home. You can fly a kite! Think about it; it's a lot like a sail: a big piece of material that's pushed by the wind.
Make sure you have a grown-up with you when you're flying your kite. Pick a day with a nice strong breeze, and make sure you're in an open space, away from trees and power lines.
Wind is a pretty cool thing! Nowadays we're using it to generate electricity, but for thousands of years, people have used it to push boats across water.
Sails are large sheets of fabric that are stretched across long beams on ships. The sails are blown by the wind, and that forces the wind to carry the boat along whatever direction it is blowing. Sails can also be turned to face the wind at different angles, and this helps the boat speed up, slow down, or change directions.
Before sails, people could only travel in boats by using oars or paddles, and their arms would definitely get tired after a while! Having sails lets the wind do the hard work for us!
Today though there is a lot of technology like motors and propellers that do the same job as sails, and they can also work when there is no wind at all.
Sails are large sheets of fabric that are stretched across long beams on ships. The sails are blown by the wind, and that forces the wind to carry the boat along whatever direction it is blowing. Sails can also be turned to face the wind at different angles, and this helps the boat speed up, slow down, or change directions.
Before sails, people could only travel in boats by using oars or paddles, and their arms would definitely get tired after a while! Having sails lets the wind do the hard work for us!
Today though there is a lot of technology like motors and propellers that do the same job as sails, and they can also work when there is no wind at all.
Fly a Kite
If you don't happen to be a very young sailboat captain, there's a way you can see the power of the wind at or near your home. You can fly a kite! Think about it; it's a lot like a sail: a big piece of material that's pushed by the wind.
Make sure you have a grown-up with you when you're flying your kite. Pick a day with a nice strong breeze, and make sure you're in an open space, away from trees and power lines.
