Problem
How does weight effect the distance a paper airplane travels?
Research
- There are three forces that act upon the flight of a glider- lift, drag, and weight.
- Lift is the force that directly opposes gravity.
- Lift is the force that comes from the air under the wing.
- The lift of wings is controlled by surface area, shape, and angle of attack.
- The amount of air under the wings depends on the surface area of the wings.
- As the wing of an airplane slices through the air, the ir on top of the wing has to move faster than the air below the wing.
- If you increase the angle of attack, more air will have to push up on the wing.
2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
Brians, Marshall. "How Gliders Work." HowStuffWorks. N.p., 2013. Web. 20
Feb. 2013.
Benson, Tom. "Forces on a Glider." Forces on a Glider. Glenn
Research Center, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
Hypothesis
If I test the flight time of 4 different weighted airplanes with different amounts of paperclips, then the one with two of the paperclips will fly for the most time.
Variables
Independent- the number of paper clips on each plane or the weight of the airplanes.
Dependent- flying time.
Dependent- flying time.
Materials
- 10 paper clips
- 4 peices of printer paper
- stopwatch
- pencil and paper (to record data)
- 1 marker (preferabally any bold color)
Procedure
- First make 4 paper airplanes that are exactly the same (you can choose any model with teh basic structure).
- Then mark each airplane A,B,C, and D with the marker.
- Then find a clear, flat space without any obstacles.
- Attach two paperclips to plane A
- Throw the airplane at a certain level and start the stopwatch at the same time.
- The moment the airplane touches the ground stop the stopwatch and record the time.
- Repeat steps 4-6 adding two more paper clips to every test flight.
- Make sure to put an even number of paper clips on each wing or else the plane will tilt in mid air.
Results- Table and Graphs
This graph shows seperate times of each paper airplane for each trial. In the key the number next to the letter represents the number of paper clips used for the airplane. Plane E is the control group so it has no paperclips.
This graph shows the average time of all of the trials for each of the airplanes. On the x axis the numbers next to the letter represent the number of paper clips used on each paper airplane. The flight time is shown in seconds. Plane E is the control group so it has no paperclips.
CER-Conclusion
My hypothesis that the airplane with only two paperclips would have the longest flight time is right. The airplanes with two paperclips stayed in the air for the longest time out of all four airplanes. It had the least amount of paperclips.
The data shows that in all four of the trials, the Plane A stayed in the air the longest. It stayed in the air longer than the airplanes with more than two paperclips attached to their wings. Plane A's average time was also higher than the rest of the planes'. Except for Plane E, but that is because Plane E had no paper clips on it. Plane E was my control group. On the first trial, plane A flew for 1.2 seconds while plane B flew for exactly one second and planes C and D flew for less than one second. This means that Plane A stayed up the longest for the first trial. For the second trial plane A had the same time. But this time Plane B flew for 1.1 seconds and Planes C and D flew for 0.6 and 0.3 seconds respectively. For the third trial Plane A flew for 1 second and so did Plane B. Planes C and D were still under a second. For the last trial plane A dominated with a time of 1.3 seconds while all the other planes were under a second.
Plane A was the one that stayed up in the air the air the longest because it only had two paperclips attached to it's wings. One on each wing. Plane B had two on each wing. Plane C had 3 on each wing and Plane D had 4 on each wing. The lack of paperclips took off a lot of weight off of the wings. Since the wing span was so small and the surface area of the wings was really small, the force of the air underneath the wings was not enough to support the weight of the plane and the extra paper clips. A key factor for lift is surface area. The more the surface area of the wing the more air can gather underneath the wings and support the plane. But given that the surface area is very small, a long flight time by the plane itself is unthinkable. Then when we add the paper clips, the extra weight causes gravity to take over and the air to break away.
The data shows that in all four of the trials, the Plane A stayed in the air the longest. It stayed in the air longer than the airplanes with more than two paperclips attached to their wings. Plane A's average time was also higher than the rest of the planes'. Except for Plane E, but that is because Plane E had no paper clips on it. Plane E was my control group. On the first trial, plane A flew for 1.2 seconds while plane B flew for exactly one second and planes C and D flew for less than one second. This means that Plane A stayed up the longest for the first trial. For the second trial plane A had the same time. But this time Plane B flew for 1.1 seconds and Planes C and D flew for 0.6 and 0.3 seconds respectively. For the third trial Plane A flew for 1 second and so did Plane B. Planes C and D were still under a second. For the last trial plane A dominated with a time of 1.3 seconds while all the other planes were under a second.
Plane A was the one that stayed up in the air the air the longest because it only had two paperclips attached to it's wings. One on each wing. Plane B had two on each wing. Plane C had 3 on each wing and Plane D had 4 on each wing. The lack of paperclips took off a lot of weight off of the wings. Since the wing span was so small and the surface area of the wings was really small, the force of the air underneath the wings was not enough to support the weight of the plane and the extra paper clips. A key factor for lift is surface area. The more the surface area of the wing the more air can gather underneath the wings and support the plane. But given that the surface area is very small, a long flight time by the plane itself is unthinkable. Then when we add the paper clips, the extra weight causes gravity to take over and the air to break away.