Parachutes

D. Crowley, 2008

ParachutesTo be able to make parachutes which will travel at different speeds

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Air ResistanceHow could you investigate the factors that affect the air

resistance of a parachute?What could you change?How could you measure the air resistance?

• To investigate the air resistance of parachutes we could change the size of the parachute and its shape

• To measure the air resistance we could measure the speed or the time taken to fall a known distance (weight can be kept constant, so the speed will indicate how much air resistance there is)

PredictionWrite a prediction for what you think will happen – consider

what happens when the parachute size and shape are changed, adding key scientific ideas

• We should find that as the parachute gets bigger there is more air resistance, so the parachute will fall slower. Shape variations will also affect the speed descent, depending on the amount of drag they exert

Results TableCopy down the results table, ready for our experimentation

Size of parachute

(cm)

Time taken for parachute to fall to floor (sec) Speed of parachute (distance ÷ time)

Drop 1 Drop 2 Drop 3 Average

Speed

Distance

Time

Distance dropped (height of parachute when released) __________ (meters)

Making The Parachute1. Cut out 4 different sized squares from a piece of plastic

(recording the sizes in your table)

2. Cut 4 pieces of cotton (30cm long)

3. Tape a piece of cotton to each of the 4 corners of the parachute

4. Tie the other ends to your mass – now the parachute is ready to test!

Experiment5. Now measure the height at which you will drop your parachute

(record this as the distance dropped)

6. Drop your parachute, timing how long it takes to hit the ground - repeat your experiment three times for each parachute

7. Repeat this experiment, using the different sized parachutes…

AnalysisExplain your findings

Which parachute had the fastest speed and whyWhich parachute was the slowest?

Use the following key words for help: air resistance; gravity; slower; weight; mass; area; faster

Finally describe how you could improve this experiment

Force DiagramsDraw two force diagrams, for your fastest and slowest

parachutes, adding the correctly sized force arrows