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How does a paper plane's size affect its flight?
3 paper planes, one made from A3 paper, one from A4 and one from A5. Which flies furthest when thrown from the plinth? [Read more]
aerodynamics, flight, gliding, paper planes, size, throwing stuff
Edith, August 13, 2009, 10:05 pm
Method
Make three paper planes of the traditional 'dart' type; one from A3 paper, one from A4 and one from A5. This could be done in advance to save time, if they can be transported to the plinth without getting squashed.
Throw each one off the plinth in the same way, facing the same direction, quickly one after the other to avoid wind interference.
Measure how far each one has flown (or get someone on the ground to do so), and see which size of paper plane gives the optimal gliding experience.
For more scientific rigour repeat the experiment and average the distances - probably not time to do this though with so many other good experiment suggestions to try out!
(my friend Peter came up with this idea but still hasn't got round to posting it so I am!)
Result type: the relative distance each plane flies
Estimated minutes taken: 5
Possible during bad weather: yes
Comments and predictions
Your bracketed note is fair enough given that you came up with the buttered toast experiment and I forgot you had done it and used it as my test experiment submission, thus depriving you of the chance to submit your idea!
I really like this idea.
I think the larger planes will go further on average. I don’t have a quantitative model I believe yet, so I’ll just say that I think the advantage with length increase will be less than linear. For example, A3 will go further than A4 but not twice as far.
The results could have pretty high variance. A random gust could easily cause a plane to stall and plummet. Or a plane could be carried a long way in a gust.
It is probably easier to compare pairs of plane sizes together. One plane could be launched from each hand, which would make it easier to give them the same initial speed and similar conditions.
If the difference isn’t clear one could go for larger variations in size. Cut down a single sheet of A4 to get A6, A7, A8, ... Tiny planes could be taken onto the plinth pre-made.
Thanks Iain! I think in light of your comments the approach I take might be to take two of each of four sizes (A3 - A6) with me, then to throw them in four pairs:
1: A3 v A4
2: A5 v A6
3: loser of 1 v loser of 2
4: winner of 1 v winner of 2
That's about as fair a system for finding out an ordered ranking as I can come up with, without proper lab conditions or taking up too much plinth time. Sound OK?
I think this one would be good on to do if not to windy
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