Things that may affect the speed of a falling parachute are:
* Parachute made wrong size
* Hole on centre of parachute too small or too large
* Strings wrong length
* Timing on descent inaccurate
* Wind affected parachute on descent
* Holes made in wrong place
The thing that I am going to control in this experiment is the surface area of the parachutes being dropped.
Prediction My prediction is that, the larger the area of the parachute, the lower the rate of descent. This is because if the parachute is larger, it will trap more air underneath it and so the force of air resistance will increase, and it will take longer to fall. The smaller the parachute, the lower the force of air resistance is, therefore the greater the speed. The bigger the air resistance the quicker the terminal velocity is reached. The quicker the terminal velocity is reached the slower the terminal velocity is. The slower the terminal speed is the slower the decent. Terminal velocity is when the force acting down on an object (in this case gravity) is equal to the force acting up on an object (in this case air resistance).
Parachutes fall by trapping air underneath them and increasing the force of air resistance. This makes the force of air resistance larger or equal to the force of gravity so that the parachute now falls at a constant rate rate. The constant rate of descent is slow enough to stop objects that are very aerodynamic, as long as the object is not too heavy for the size of parachute, such as weights or human bodies. The structure of a parachute means that it has to displace air in order to float, otherwise, the edges would flap around and there would be little reduction in air resistance. This is achieved by making a small hole in the centre of the parachute, which lets the air escape.
* Parachute made wrong size
* Hole on centre of parachute too small or too large
* Strings wrong length
* Timing on descent inaccurate
* Wind affected parachute on descent
* Holes made in wrong place
The thing that I am going to control in this experiment is the surface area of the parachutes being dropped.
Prediction My prediction is that, the larger the area of the parachute, the lower the rate of descent. This is because if the parachute is larger, it will trap more air underneath it and so the force of air resistance will increase, and it will take longer to fall. The smaller the parachute, the lower the force of air resistance is, therefore the greater the speed. The bigger the air resistance the quicker the terminal velocity is reached. The quicker the terminal velocity is reached the slower the terminal velocity is. The slower the terminal speed is the slower the decent. Terminal velocity is when the force acting down on an object (in this case gravity) is equal to the force acting up on an object (in this case air resistance).
Parachutes fall by trapping air underneath them and increasing the force of air resistance. This makes the force of air resistance larger or equal to the force of gravity so that the parachute now falls at a constant rate rate. The constant rate of descent is slow enough to stop objects that are very aerodynamic, as long as the object is not too heavy for the size of parachute, such as weights or human bodies. The structure of a parachute means that it has to displace air in order to float, otherwise, the edges would flap around and there would be little reduction in air resistance. This is achieved by making a small hole in the centre of the parachute, which lets the air escape.