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Paper Airplanes

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Question

What airplane models will fly the farthest?

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Hypothesis

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If the paper airplane model is narrow it will fly farther than the wide airplane model.

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Plan

My plan is to make several airplane models using the same paper for all of them. I will throw each paper airplane 3 times in an open indoor area. I will measure the distance that each paper airplane flies. As all paper airplanes are made from the same material, and I will try to use the same force when I throw, I will try to see what designs will fly the farthest.

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Materials

1 RULER

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Procedure

1.Go to www.paperplaneshq.com and choose the airplanes models. The models chosen for this experiment are:, Marlin, Barracuda, Falcon, Kingfisher, Hickory, Zebra, Bottlenose and Puma.

2.Use one sheet of Tru-ray heavyweight construction paper, size 22.9 cm x 30.5 cm to build each model in a different color. Follow video instructions on how to build each model. Use the ruler for help to fold the paper.

3.Throw each model lightly but firmly in an indoor space.

4.Measure distance that each airplane model has flown using a measuring tape.

5.Repeat 3 times with each model and record the results.

6.Calculate the average distance that each airplane model has flown.

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Improve

I could not use some of the paper airplane models I had chosen at the beginning because I needed a different size of paper. As I wanted to keep the same paper size so that all planes had the same volume/weight I decided to build different models to keep this variant constant.

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Conclusion

From observing the data, the paper airplanes that flew the farthest were Zebra and Bottlenose. Both models are narrow and with a pointed nose.

The Hickory model is also narrow, but it does not have a pointed nose. This model did not fly very far.

This means that the hypothesis is partially correct. Yes, paper airplane models that are narrow usually fly the farthest but there are other factors that are also important for how far the paper airplane will fly.

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Real World Connection

My project can help the aircraft industry. Before you build a real plane you need to build a model and test it so that you can see what designs can fly farther. This can save energy and reduce travel time.