Name:
Class: Date:
Set-Up 2: Air Resistance/Friction
Introduction:
Compare two parachutes
Air resistance pushes against a moving object, such as a car, and slowsit down. The
larger the surface area of the moving object, the more air resistance there is. Air resistance
also pushes against falling objects and slows them down. Look at the photograph of hot air
balloons. Air resistance helps to keep the balloons up but the people in the basket under the
balloon fill the balloon with gas. The gas is lighter than air and the balloon floats. A parachute
uses air resistance to work. The person needs the parachute to help them reach the Eart
slowly and safely. It is very light in weight and has a very big surface area. It catches lots of
air in it as it falls down. This creates a lot of air resistance.
Objective: To make and compare two parachutes
Materials: thin string, a thin plastic sheet, sticky tape, two identical weights
(such as small plastic toys), scissors, a stopwatch
Procedures:
How to make the parachutes
• Cut two squares from the plastic sheet. One square must be 10 × 10 cm and the other
square 20 × 20 cm.
• Trim the edges with the scissors to make an eight-sided shape.
• Make a small hole with a pencil near the edge of each side.
• Thread a piece of string about  long through each hole.
• Tie knots so that the string does not come through the holes.
• The strings must be the same length.
• Join the ends of the eight strings with a knot.
• Attach the object you are using for a weight to the knot with sticky tape.
Test your parachutes
• Stand on a chair and raise your arm to drop your small parachute. Remember that you
want to drop it as slowly as possible, so don’t throw it!
• Use the stopwatch to record how many seconds it takes for the parachute to reach
the ground.
• Repeat three times to check your results.
• Decide whether you need to repeat more times to get more reliable data.
• Record your results in a table.
Name:
Class: Date:
Parachute Height of fall Time on air (seconds) Average
(m) time on air
TRIAL (seconds)
1 2 3
1 (small)
2 (large)
• Predict whether the larger parachute will fall faster or slower than the small parachute.
• Repeat these steps with the large parachute to test your prediction.
Questions:
Answer these questions in your group.
1 Name two forces that acted on your parachute after you dropped it.
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2. Draw a force diagram to show the forces acting on your parachute.
3. Calculate the average time it took your small parachute to fall.
4. Calculate the average time it took your large parachute to fall.
5. Which parachute took longer to fall? Was this what you predicted?
Explain why one parachute fell faster than the other.
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6.Suggest a way to change your parachute to make it fall more slowly.
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7. Write a conclusion about the speed the parachute falls compared to
the size of the parachute and forces acting on it.
Name:
Class: Date:
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