Editing Lift (force) (section)

===Lift reacted by overpressure on the ground under an airplane===
[[File:Pressure footprint isometric b.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Illustration of the distribution of higher-than-ambient pressure on the ground under an airplane in subsonic flight]]

An airfoil produces a pressure field in the surrounding air, as explained under "[[#The wider flow around the airfoil|The wider flow around the airfoil]]" above. The pressure differences associated with this field die off gradually, becoming very small at large distances, but never disappearing altogether. Below the airplane, the pressure field persists as a positive pressure disturbance that reaches the ground, forming a pattern of slightly-higher-than-ambient pressure on the ground, as shown on the right.<ref>Prandtl and Tietjens (1934), Figure 150</ref> Although the pressure differences are very small far below the airplane, they are spread over a wide area and add up to a substantial force. For steady, level flight, the integrated force due to the pressure differences is equal to the total aerodynamic lift of the airplane and to the airplane's weight. According to Newton's third law, this pressure force exerted on the ground by the air is matched by an equal-and-opposite upward force exerted on the air by the ground, which offsets all of the downward force exerted on the air by the airplane. The net force due to the lift, acting on the atmosphere as a whole, is therefore zero, and thus there is no integrated accumulation of vertical momentum in the atmosphere, as was noted by Lanchester early in the development of modern aerodynamics.<ref>Lanchester (1907), Sections 5 and 112</ref>