Aim: To Investigate the effect of mass on parachute drop time.
Equipment: 1 x 50 cm square of black rubbish bin liner – scissors – 4 x 40 cm lengths of string – 4 x large washers or other suitable masses – 1 x rubber band or twist tie – stopwatch
Hypothesis: What do you think is going to happen? it will float down
Definition of mass, weight and gravity. mass is a measure of how much matter an object contains, and weight is a measure of the force of gravity acting on the object. Gravity is the attraction between two objects that have mass.
Discussion: What Variables did you control so it was a fair test? I control the fact that it makes the parachute float down slower to faster due to weight.
How to make Parachutes?
Method:
- Using your stopwatch, time how long it takes (in seconds) for the parachute to fall to the ground from a suitable safe platform that is at least 2 m high. Be sure to release the parachute from the same height each time.
- Repeat for three trials.
- Add another washer to the parachute and repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have used all four washers.
Step 1: Flatten out your piece of plastic.
Step 2: Staple a length of string to each corner of your piece of plastic.
Step 3: Tie the loose ends of the 4 pieces of string together.
Step 4: Attach a single washer to the rubber band.
Step 5: Attach the rubber band to the strings.
Step 6: Your completed parachute should now look like this.
Mini Paragraph – How did adding more mass affect the speed? If we add more weight to the parachute It goes down faster and it makes the time faster. Why? because the weight we add the more down the parachute is.
Variables – weight
It makes it more heavy
Its the amount of mass gravity’s pulling
Yes it slowed the rubber bits.
Weight | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Average |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1.75 | 1.13 | 1.691 | 1.5233333333 |
2 | 1.03 | 1.47 | 1.10 | 1.2 |
3 | 0.78 | 0.76 | 0.79 | 0.77666666666 |
4 | 0.42 | 0.44 | 0.40 | 0.42 |
Weight | Avg time | Distance | Avg speed (ms-1) | |
1 | 1.5233333333 | 2 m | 3.5233333333 ms -1 | |
2 | 1.2 | 2 m | 1.6 ms -1 | |
3 | 0.77666666666 | 2 m | 0.92555555555 ms -1 | |
4 | 0.42 | 2 m | 0.605 ms -1 |
Conclusion – Did it work? It did work
Would you do anything different? Probably not since it worked the first try