Which statement is true about the effect of increased angle of attack on the movement of the center of lift?

Which statement is true about the effect of increased angle of attack on the movement of the center of lift?

• A. The CL moves aft with increased AOA
• B. The CL moves forward with increased AOA
• C. The CL does not move with AOA changes
• D. CL becomes unstable with high AOA

Answer: (B)

Increasing angle of attack changes how the pressure is distributed over the wing, so the resultant lift acts at a different point along the chord. As AoA rises for a typical subsonic airfoil, the pressure field becomes more front-loaded, and the line of action of the total lift shifts toward the leading edge. That means the center of lift moves forward with increasing angle of attack. The center of lift isn’t fixed and doesn’t move aft with this change; near very high angles (approaching stall) the flow can complicate the distribution, but the common trend before stall is a forward shift.

Increasing angle of attack changes how the pressure is distributed over the wing, so the resultant lift acts at a different point along the chord. As AoA rises for a typical subsonic airfoil, the pressure field becomes more front-loaded, and the line of action of the total lift shifts toward the leading edge. That means the center of lift moves forward with increasing angle of attack. The center of lift isn’t fixed and doesn’t move aft with this change; near very high angles (approaching stall) the flow can complicate the distribution, but the common trend before stall is a forward shift.