The different factors that change lift are summed up by the lift formula:
In this formula:
The wing surface area is chosen by the aircraft designers and the air density depends on the atmosphere so we cannot change these two values. We have already learnt how lift varies with airspeed – but what is the coefficient of lift?
The Coefficient of Lift is a number that tells us how much lift a wing can create. It is based on many factors and is determined by the engineers who design the aircraft.
We’re not concerned with the actual value of CL. We do however, need to understand how the CL varies with angle of attack: