Experiment Overview
The project me and my partner conducted was to see whether or not a paper airplane would fly further with or without additional weight added. We used paperclips as our added weight, one plane did not have any weight (plane 1), while another had one paperclip taped to the middle of the wings (plane 2), and finally a final plane like plane 2, but with another clip in between the other two resting in the middle (plane 3). We threw each plane 5 times, and recorded our results which will be talked about and explained in the following prompt:
Experiment Results
After finding the average of each plane, we discovered that our hypothesis was correct, and that the lightest plane (plane 1) flew the furthest. Although something that surprised both me and my partner was that the heaviest plane (plane 3) came second in terms of distance. Plane 1’s average for distance was 9.952 meters while plane 3’s average was 8.328 meters. The data is more shocking when it is mentioned that plane 2’s average was only 2.942 meters. We had a few observations during the experiment and one of the most important was the fact that plane 3 would turn upside down, causing it to glide more smoothly compared to plane 2. We speculated this was caused by the balance the plane had, not only having a paperclip on each wing, but one also in the middle to keep it stable, since we noticed plane 2 would normally do a loop, causing it to go backwards instead of forwards. So while our hypothesis was indeed accepted, it was not how we expected the experiment to turn, and it was quite interesting to see how the placement of the paperclips affected its flight so drastically.
What I Learned
Something unexpected I have learned from this experiment is how weight distribution can greatly affect how paper planes fly. It may seem obvious, but at the time it did not quite click with me and it was interesting to see how both the planes with weight took it differently and how it either greatly lengthened or shortened the distance both planes flew. I also learned that the lighter a paper airplane is, the further it will fly due to having more lift than the other two planes than added weight. A final thing I have learned from this experiment is the importance of having so many trials. With each plane having similar but different levels of success, having 5 trials per plane definitely improved how accurate our average was in the end.
What Would I Do Differently?
Something I would do differently regarding my experiment (comparing how different weights of paperclips affect the distance a paper plane can fly) is the amount of trials used in total. While we did 5 trials for each of the three planes, additional trials would give a clearer result, therefore improving how accurate the entire experiment was. Another tweak me and my partner could have made was testing how different types of paper airplanes would affect how far the planes flew as well. We used a basic Dart design but what if we used a Rocket or Arrowhead design? How would the statistics vary? Next time I do this experiment, I definitely would experiment with replacements for the weights, for another object other than paperclips. Some examples of other materials that could be used are buttons, popsicle sticks, fabrics of some kind, cardboard and etc.
Picture Of Our Planes
