Question: Which paper aeroplane flies the furthest?

Transcription

1 Alex Bowdler year 2 St John Bosco Primary School Question: Which paper aeroplane flies the furthest? Page 1 of 12

2 Introduction Paper aeroplanes are always fun to make and fly. The aim of this research is to work out which design flies the furthest. Hypothesis The plane with the biggest wings will fly the furthest. Design Which paper aeroplane flies the furthest? Independent variable Dependent variable Controlled variables The shape of the plane Distance travelled Paper size and weight Environmental conditions Paper aeroplane launcher People throwing planes Methodology Five different designs of paper aeroplane will be chosen and each one folded three times. The same paper will be used for each plane. The planes will be labelled 1A, 1B, 1C split nose cone dart (Morris 1983) Page 2 of 12

3 2A, 2B, 2C long distance glider (Morris 1983) 3A, 3B, 3C super dart (Morris 1983) Page 3 of 12

4 4A, 4B, 4C long distance paper airplane (Simon ) 5A, 5B, 5C long distance paper glider (Brown 2008) The testing will take place inside a hall so the environmental conditions will be the same. Initially each plane will be thrown five times with the paper aeroplane launcher for consistency and distance measured to the point where plane hits the ground. Three people will then be allocated to plane A, B or C and each plane thrown five times. The distance will be measured to where the plane hits the ground. A laser distance measurer will be used to measure the distance for each flight. The average distance travelled of each design will be worked out to see which one flies the furthest. Page 4 of 12

5 Research There are four forces that act on a plane when it s flying. Drag, lift, weight and thrust this need to be in balance for the plane to fly (Scholastic 2014). Drag is a mechanical force that slows down the plane (or a backward force). It is a resistance of the plane through the air like friction (Benson 2014a). Lift is the force that holds the aeroplane in the air (or an upward force). The wings generate the most lift. As the plane flies through the air, the air pushes the plane upwards to keep it in the air (Benson 2014b). Weight is the gravitation force from the earth (or downward force). The other forces required for flying need to overcome the weight of the plane (Benson 2014c). A paper aeroplane is very light they can avoid some of the effects of gravity (Paper Plane Mafia 2013). Thrust is the last force that acts on flying. When throwing the paper aeroplane thrust (or forward force) has to work against the drag to keep the plane flying forward (Benson 2014d) (Shaw 2014) Page 5 of 12

6 Results Summary of averages People Plane launcher Plane 1 Plane 2 Plane 3 Plane 4 Plane 5 Page 6 of 12

7 Result data plane launcher Plane Design Plane launcher Average distance Total average Plane A Design 1 Plane B Plane C Plane A Design 2 Plane B Plane C Plane A Design 3 Plane B Plane C Plane A Design 4 Design 5 Plane B Plane C Plane A Plane B Plane C Page 7 of 12

8 Result data people throwing Plane Design People Average distance Total average Plane A Design 1 Plane B Plane C Plane A Design 2 Plane B Plane C Plane A Design 3 Plane B Plane C Plane A Design 4 Plane B Plane C Plane A Design 5 Plane B Plane C A Alex B Lily C Tony Page 8 of 12

9 6000 Area of Wings mm Area of Wings mm Design 1 Design 2 Design 3 Design 4 Design 5 Discussion From the results of testing design number 2 flew the furthest with both the plane launcher and people throwing it. Design 3 however had the biggest wing span. The weight of each paper aeroplane was the same as each aeroplane was made out of the same size and weight of paper. The thrust of the launch of the plane was the same force with each launch of each plane. The various numbers of flights with different people was to get an average allowing for different thrust force of each throw and person. The drag and lift of the paper aeroplane would be different depending on the different designs of the plane. In doing this testing it was learnt that there are a lot of different forces that all work together to make the paper aeroplane fly. Conclusion The hypothesis is therefore incorrect. It is not the area of the wing that makes the paper plane fly the furthest. But combinations of the four forces lift, thrust, drag and weight. If this testing was to be done again the method of testing would be the same. However, the winning design should be compared to other designs to see if it is still flies the furthest. It would be interesting to conduct the experiment again and use different weights of paper to see how that affected the distance flown. Page 9 of 12

10 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge and thank my dad for building the paper plane launcher and helping me choose and make all the planes. He and my sister also were the other plane throwers. My mum also helped with making the graphs and setting out the report. The Engadine Gymnastics club for letting me use the hall for the testing. Page 10 of 12

11 Bibliography Benson, T 2014a. What is drag? Benson, T 2014b. What is lift? Benson, T 2014c. What is weight? Benson, T 2014d. What is thrust? Brown, S Long distance paper glider Morris, C Advanced paper aircraft construction easy to follow instructions for 14 flyable models. Cornstalk publishing, Australia Paper Plane Mafia How do paper airplanes fly? Scholastic What makes paper airplanes fly? Page 11 of 12

12 Shaw, RJ Dynamics of flight Simon Long distance paper glider Page 12 of 12