How do airplanes fly using fundamental physics principles?

Airplanes fly by using air pressure and speed, just like how you can blow a paper boat across a lake.

When an airplane moves forward, the shape of its wings, called airfoils, makes the air above them move faster than the air below. Because of this, the air above pushes less on the wing than the air below does. This difference in pressure creates an upward force, like when you blow on a balloon and it floats up.

The airplane needs to go fast enough for this pressure difference to happen. Think about running on a playground slide, if you run fast, you zoom down quickly, but if you walk, you just slowly roll down. The faster the airplane goes, the more lift it gets from its wings.

Together, these forces help the airplane fly up into the sky, just like how a leaf floats up when you blow on it. No magic, just air and speed!