Scientific Method & Paper Airplanes

 

Question: Depending on the size of the paper, which paper airplane will fly the farthest?

Hypothesis: If we use larger paper then the plane will fly farther compared to the smaller ones because it has more weights on every parts.

Dependent Variable: The distance of the plane travelled

Independent Variable: Size

Controlled Variable: (11 x 8) paper, (11 x 17) paper, (8 x 5.5) paper, airplane design, and a person throwing paper airplanes

Materials: (11 x 8) paper, (11 x 17) paper, (8 x 5.5) paper, masking tape, pencil, measuring tape, and ruler

 

Experiment: 

1. Throw 3 different sizes of the paper airplanes 5 times each.
2. Measure distance in meters of airplane flight and record on paper.
3. Draw a bar graph to compare visually

Result: 

Airplane 1 (Large 11 x 17): Average distance of 2.074m

Airplane 2 (Medium 11 x 8): Average distance of 1.418m

Airplane 3 (Small 8 x 5.5): Average distance of 5.618m

 

Conclusion:

The hypothesis, if we use larger paper then the plane will fly farther compared to the smaller ones because it has more weights on every parts is rejected. The data shows that the smallest plane flew the farthest.

The result of this investigation are useful because this data can be applied to real-life airplanes that light and small airplanes fly farther than bigger ones.

This investigation can be improved by changing designs. The designs can be changed to make the planes fly straight.

Other questions that need to be answered are how to calculate human errors. For examples, position, strength, and angle are minor human errors when throwing paper airplanes.

Reflection:

I learned that the size of the paper airplanes affect their performance. According to our result, the smallest plane flew the farthest. The smallest plane was light enough to defy gravity which made it fly longer. I also learned human errors can occur during the experiment. Throwing position, strength, and angle can change every time when throwing the planes. These minor human errors can cause slight inaccuracy. To make the best airplane without any errors, I think aerodynamics and balance between gravity, lift, drag and thrust must be calculated thoroughly. Next time, I would like to try different types of paper airplanes to see if the result from our experiment can also be applied to different types.

 

           

 

Core Competency