Investigating the factors affecting the speed at which a parachute falls.

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Parachute Investigation – Year 10

Investigating the factors affecting the speed at which a parachute falls.

Introduction

We are going to investigate a factor that will affect the speed of a parachute.

Planning

The factors that will affect the speed of the parachute are;

        Weight/ Mass – If the weight or mass is increased the downwards force will

                                      increase, making the parachute fall faster.

         Surface Area - If the surface area is increased the upwards force will increase

                                     making the parachute fall slower.

We are going to investigate the weight or the mass.  I predict that if the weight or mass is increased the parachute will fall faster.  It will fall slower if the surface area is increased. I also think that in both experiments the parachute would accelerate constantly until the upwards and downwards forces are equal and the parachute meets its terminal velocity.

We will measure the time in seconds and the mass in grams.  We will drop the parachute from the same height each time for reliable results.

Detailed Planning

Factors that could affect the speed:

         Change in Mass - Because an increase in mass would increase the

             downwards force acting on the parachute, this would make the fall faster.

         Change in Surface Area – Because by increasing this you are increasing

        the number of air particles which hit the parachute therefore increasing the                 drag or upwards force, this would make the parachute fall slower.

I predict that if the mass is increased the parachute will fall faster because the downwards force will have increased making the net force (downwards) larger.  I predict that if the surface area is increased the parachute will fall slower because the upwards force will have increased making the net force (downwards) smaller.

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Apparatus:

String, Thin Plastic, Tape, Plastic Film Case, 2p Coins, Scales, Meter Stick/s, Stop Watch. (see Diagram 1)

Method:

First of all we will set up our investigation by holding a parachute in the air and dropping it.  We will measure the speed at which the parachute reaches the ground by timing the parachute and measuring the distance, in cm, at which it is dropped from (see Diagram 1).  We will then calculate the speed at which the parachute fell. We will vary the weight/mass of the parachute by adding coins to the parachute each time ...

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