SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/aero-wingtip-vortex-cause

Why do swirling vortices form at an airplane's wing tips?

Air spills from the high-pressure bottom around the tip to the low-pressure top.

Start playing free

  1. Exhaust from the engines spins the air
  2. Air spills around the tip from high to low pressure ✔
  3. The wing tips spin like small propellers

Why: A lifting wing has higher pressure below and lower pressure above. At the tips, air curls from the bottom to the top, making a pair of spinning vortices behind the plane.

Huh, didn't know that: The two tip vortices trail behind the wing and rotate in opposite directions.

The dad joke
Why do wing tips love dance class? They're great at twirling.
Like this card?
Play the game

References

Answer: Air spills around the tip from high to low pressure. A lifting wing has higher pressure below and lower pressure above. At the tips, air curls from the bottom to the top, making a pair of spinning vortices behind the plane.

  1. Downwash Effects on Lift, NASA Glenn Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/downwash-effects-on-lift
    Near the tips of the wing, the air is free to move from the region of high pressure into the region of low pressure.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

Think this answer is wrong? Tap "Challenge this answer" on the card in the game and tell us why.

Test yourself in the game

Flying & DronesIn straight, level, unaccelerated flight, lift is equal to which force?Flying & DronesWhat is a wing's angle of attack?Flying & DronesWhat always causes a wing to stall?

That's stuff everyone should know.