2-15-13
Problem
Problem: Does the weight of the paper used in a paper airplane affect the flight time?
Research
Paper:
Airplanes:
Paper Airplanes:
Citations:
- Paper is made by a combination of three things. They use old paper, residue or leftover wood product and actual wood. The type and use of the paper actually determines what goes into the making of the paper. For example heavier paper will need more residue and 'round wood (logs)' than the regular printer paper.
- Even though people think that wood from the forest is used for the production of paper it is not. It does not cause deforestation. Special trees are specifically designed so that they can be harvested and made into better and more durable paper.
Airplanes:
- Airplanes are machines that are very complex. However the principal that they work on is simple. An engine or a propellant is used to push the airplane forward (Newtons third law of motion (For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction)). Once the airplane is moving forward it meets air resistance. The air travels above and below the wing. The air below is moving at high-speeds and is basically high pressure. The top part of the wing is curved and so the air does not go around it but simply gets deflected. This causes an area of low pressure above the wing. Since air always moves from high to low pressure zones the air that is high pressure below the wing wants to rise to fill the space. However it cannot, because the wing is blocking the way. So the high pressure air will lift up the wing and the entire airplane with it as it tries to fill the space. An airplane can therefore fly forever just as long as there is enough propellant and air.
Paper Airplanes:
- A paper airplane is just a piece of paper that is folded so that there are two wings and a nose. There are more complex models of the paper airplane with more parts and advanced shapes so that there is more air over the wings and less air resistance.
- Paper airplanes can be made out of any material
Citations:
- "All About Paper." History of Paper. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
- "How to Make Paper Airplanes." TLC. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
- "Basic Dart Paper Airplane." Basic Dart Paper Airplane. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
- "Parts of Airplane." Parts of Airplane. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
Hypothesis
The weight of the paper airplane does not affect the flight time.
Independent Variable: Weight of the plane
Dependent Variable: Flight time
Independent Variable: Weight of the plane
Dependent Variable: Flight time
Materials and Method
Materials:
Method:
- Stopwatch
- Printer Paper
- Construction Paper
- Manila Paper
Method:
- Gather all the paper and make sure if they are the same size. You should have three papers of each type. If they are not use straight lines to cut them so that they are the same size.
- Use the following instructions to fold the printer paper into a paper airplane: http://www.amazingpaperairplanes.com/Basic_Dart.html
- Repeat step three using the other types of paper. Fold all the paper into paper airplanes.
- Stand in a large open area with a stopwatch in one hand and the paper airplane in the other.
- Throw the paper airplane and start the stopwatch at the same time.
- Stop the stopwatch once the plane lands on the floor.
- Record the results and then pick up the paper airplane and discard it as it may have been damaged in flight and you will than not get consistent results.
- Repeat steps 5-7 using all of the paper airplanes.
Data and Analysis
The graph here shows that the weight did not affect the paper airplane flight time at all. In fact the averages were within half a second of each other.
Conclusion
Once the papers weight is changed than the flight time will not be affected. The average of the paper airplane flight times were really close to one another. The control group had a flight time of 7.78 second while the manila paper airplanes had an average flight time of 7.423. The construction paper airplanes had a flight time average of 7.593. These are all within half a second of each other. This difference can be held on random factors such as a little bit to much force on one airplane launch and human reaction time on the stopwatch. However the reason that there is no difference in the flight time is that the paper airplanes have the same wing surface area and therefore and have the same amount of lift applied. In addition to this gravity pulls down everything at the same rate and there is therefore all the paper airplanes will fall at the same rate regardless of the weight. This is why the weight of the paper will not affect the flight time of the paper airplanes.