Why does a boomerang, when thrown properly, return to its thrower?

Tadpole Angel

The wings are set at a slight tilt, and have an airfoil design. This means they are rounded on one side and flat on the other, like an airplane or propeller wing. Because air moves more rapidly over the rounded top of the wing, a difference in air pressure is created, and the greater pressure below causes lift... I enjoy boomerang throwing myself, but i'm not too flash. Feb 13 04, 12:34 AM

Senior Moments

Further to Tadpole Angel's reply - The simplest explanation of how boomerangs return is the wings spin through the air and provide lift, just like an airplane wing. This lift is a force which tries to tip the boomerang over while it's flying. However, like a spinning bicycle wheel, the boomerang will not tip over. Instead it turns into the direction that it's trying to tip over (this is called Newtonian Precession). Since it's moving forward and turning, the boomerang eventually returns to the thrower (this does take practice though to get the accuracy of the return). http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/mother/faq.htm Feb 13 04, 2:00 AM

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