Air Resistance with Surface Area
I can identify how surface area
affects air resistance
Key questions for you to think about
•
How do people slow themselves down when
they jump out of a plane?
•
What forces may be acting upon a person
jumping out of a plane?
Watch the video up to 2:10
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-
content/mit-k12/mit-k12-physics/v/the-physics-
of-skydiving
•
In the video they talked about the forces
gravity and drag (air resistance).
•
Surface area plays another vital role in how
quickly a person falls to the ground when they
jump out of a plane.
•
But does having a large surface area slow you
down quicker or slower?
•
What do you think? Why do you think this?
Experiment!
•
Lets create 3 parachutes using paper. Each
square parachute will need:
•
A large surface area of approximately 400cm² (each side will need to be
20cm long)
•
A medium sized surface area of approximately 225cm² (each side will need
to be 15cm long
•
A small surface area of approximately 100cm² (each side will need to be
10cm long)
20cm
20cm
200cm²
15cm
15cm
225cm²
10cm
10cm
100cm²
Using 4 pieces of string or
thread per parachute (all
the same length), tie each
piece to the corners of the
parachute and attach a
weight (maybe a Lego
man?!)
Make holes in the
corners with a pencil
or you could use a
hole punch.
Fair testing and prediction
•
You will drop each parachute from the same
height. Why?
•
What do you predict will happen? Why?
The test!
•
Drop each parachute! You may want to use a stop watch to
time the fall.
•
You may want to repeat your test a few times (to ensure it’s
fair!) and try and find the take an average time using a
calculator.
•
Parachute
•
Test 1
•
Test 2
•
Test 3
Results
•
What did you find out?
•
The larger the surface area, the slower the
parachute falls. Why?
•
This is because the greater the surface area,
the greater the air resistance. In other words,
the larger the surface area, the slower the
parachute falls.
Discover how surface area influences air resistance by exploring the forces acting on a person jumping out of a plane. Engage in an experiment creating different-sized paper parachutes to observe the effects of surface area on descent speed. Predict, test, and analyze the outcomes to deepen your understanding of this physics concept.
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Presentation Transcript
I can identify how surface area affects air resistance
Key questions for you to think about How do people slow themselves down when they jump out of a plane? What forces may be acting upon a person jumping out of a plane?
Watch the video up to 2:10 https://www.khanacademy.org/partner- content/mit-k12/mit-k12-physics/v/the-physics- of-skydiving
In the video they talked about the forces gravity and drag (air resistance). Surface area plays another vital role in how quickly a person falls to the ground when they jump out of a plane.
But does having a large surface area slow you down quicker or slower? What do you think? Why do you think this?
Experiment! Lets create 3 parachutes using paper. Each square parachute will need: A large surface area of approximately 400cm (each side will need to be 20cm long) A medium sized surface area of approximately 225cm (each side will need to be 15cm long A small surface area of approximately 100cm (each side will need to be 10cm long)
20cm 200cm 15cm 225cm 15cm 20cm Using 4 pieces of string or thread per parachute (all the same length), tie each piece to the corners of the parachute and attach a weight (maybe a Lego man?!) Make holes in the corners with a pencil or you could use a hole punch. 100cm 10cm 10cm
Fair testing and prediction You will drop each parachute from the same height. Why? What do you predict will happen? Why?
The test! Drop each parachute! You may want to use a stop watch to time the fall. You may want to repeat your test a few times (to ensure it s fair!) and try and find the take an average time using a calculator. Parachute Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Large Parachute Test 1 (time) Test 2 (time) Test 3 (time) Average time (add all 3 times together and divide by 3) Medium Small
Results What did you find out? The larger the surface area, the slower the parachute falls. Why? This is because the greater the surface area, the greater the air resistance. In other words, the larger the surface area, the slower the parachute falls.
