Come Fly with Me Lab

Come Fly with Me Lab

Come Fly With Me Lab

Question: How does the design of a paper airplane affect how far a paper airplane will fly AND the time of flight for that paper airplane?

Research: From Nasa (

Have you ever thrown a Frisbee®? It flies because of four forces. These same four forces help an airplane fly. The four forces are lift, thrust, drag, and weight. As a Frisbee flies through the air, lift holds it up. You gave the Frisbee thrust with your arm. Drag from the air made the Frisbee slow down. Its weight brings the Frisbee back to Earth again.

You see them everyday: airplanes, jets, and helicopters, soaring, zooming, and even roaring through the skies. We may take flight for granted; yet, knowing the science behind it gives us a better understanding of the marvels of air travel.

Wings keep an airplane up in the air, but the four forces are what make this happen. They push a plane up, down, forward, or slow it down.

  • Thrust is a force that moves an aircraft in the direction of the motion. It is created with a propeller, jet engine, or rocket. Air is pulled in and then pushed out in an opposite direction. One example is a household fan.
  • Drag is the force that acts opposite to the direction of motion. It tends to slow an object. Drag is caused by friction and differences in air pressure. An example is putting your hand out of a moving car window and feeling it pull back.
  • Weight is the force caused by gravity.
  • Lift is the force that holds an airplane in the air. The wings create most of the lift used by airplanes.

The way the four forces act on the airplane make the plane do different things. Each force has an opposite force that works against it. Lift works opposite of weight. Thrust works opposite of drag. When the forces are balanced, a plane flies in a level direction. The plane goes up if the forces of lift and thrust are more than gravity and drag. If gravity and drag are bigger than lift and thrust, the plane goes down. Just as drag holds something back as a response to wind flow, lift pushes something up. The air pressure is higher on the bottom side of a wing, so it is pushed upward.

Hypothesis (Must be testable and in If…, then… format):

Independent Variable:

Dependent Variable:

Control/Constant Variables:

Procedures:

Number your procedures for conducting the experiment and give directions that are clear for others to be able to repeat and replicate.

1.Go to the Amazing Paper Airplanes webpage with folding instructions for the Dart and Falcon design:

2.Fold a piece of paper into the Dart Paper Plane following the instructions.

3.Fold a piece of paper into the Falcon Paper Plane following the instructions.

4.Fold a piece of paper into the Belly Button Glider Paper Plane following the instructions.

5.Go to the first floor atrium to fly your paper planes.

6.Stand and throw your paper plane.

7.Use the meter stick to measure how far (in centimeters or meters) the paper plane flew from the starting line.Record this distance in the data table in your lab report.

8.Use the stop watchto measure how long (in seconds)the paper plane flew from the starting line and to where it stopped and hit the ground. Record this time in the data table in your lab report.

9.Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 two more times using the same Falcon Plane, trying to throw the plane as similarly as possible.

10.Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 for the Dart, Falcon and Belly Button Glider Outdoors

Data Chart: You will also have to make bar graphsfor your distance (control group results and 3 test group results) and time (control group results and 3 test group results).

TRIALS
Control Group: Throwing a piece of paper with NO INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (NO Paper Airplane Designs) / TIME (SECONDS) / DISTANCE (METERS & CENTIMETERS)
TRIAL 1-Flat Piece of Paper
TRIAL 2- Flat Piece of Paper
TRIAL 3- Flat Piece of Paper
TRIAL 4- Flat Piece of Paper
TRIAL 5- Flat Piece of Paper

(B)Test (Hypothesis) Group Experiment:Throwing a piece of paper with the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (Different Paper Airplane Designs).

TRIALS / TIME (SECONDS) / DISTANCE (METERS & CENTIMETERS)
TRIAL 1: Design A-Dart
TRIAL 2: Design A-Dart
TRIAL 3: Design A-Dart
TRIAL 4: Design A-Dart
TRIAL 5: Design A-Dart
TRIAL 1: Design B-Falcon
TRIAL 2: Design B- Falcon
TRIAL 3: Design B- Falcon
TRIAL 4: Design B- Falcon
TRIAL 5: Design B- Falcon
TRIAL 1: Design C- Belly Button Glider
TRIAL 2: Design C- Belly Button Glider
TRIAL 3: Design C- Belly Button Glider
TRIAL 4: Design C- Belly Button Glider
TRIAL 5: Design C- Belly Button Glider

Conclusion:

You will have to write a conclusion. Remember that your conclusion should explain your results and how they relate to your question and hypothesis.