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Since I was young, I have been interested in astronomy and aerospace, and
always wanted to explore whats out in the universe. While looking at
pictures of Nasas probe, I always wondered why is there a vent in a
parachute, and whether it was efficient. Especially, in the places where the
air concentrations are low, I thought having the vents would increase the
speed and potentially take risk to crash onto the surface. Then, while
investigating more on parachutes, I have realized that there are multiple
types of parachute, each of them having the different size of hole. This made
me to be interested to investigate what effects does the size of the vent give
in the parachute.
Background information:
Hypothesis
I hypothesized that as the bigger the radius of the apex vent, the more air
particles would come out, which creates a stronger buttress of the
parachute. This would make the parachute to be a more accurate and closely
approach to a linear fall. I hypothesized this and using my imagination and
my logical reasoning. Taking the assumption that normal object which freely
fall acquire linear fall, I imagined that the parachute would be closer to a
linear fall.
METHODS:
-
Materials:
The size of the apex vent I then measured the distance between the
designated point and the midpoint of the parachute.
In designing the parachute, I have chosen to build a 21cmx21cm squareshaped parachute, not only for the sake of simplicity, but also because many
of the parachutes are designed as square-shape. As shown in the
background knowledge, having a gravitational force is necessary in order to
effectively create a drag force, so I have used paper clips to create 2.87g
weight for the parachute. In order to remove other factors, the weight will be
a constant value in all trials.
0.5cm
1cm
1.5cm
2cm
2.5cm
3cm
3.5cm
Trial 1
81.24
cm
35.5cm
9.8cm
11.8cm
5.5cm
18.3cm
20.0cm
Trial 2
25.0cm
29.8cm
35.8cm
6.9cm
5.0cm
18.1cm
18.9cm
Trial 3
68.3cm
48.1cm
10.7cm
7.1cm
1.4cm
18.0cm
31.3cm
Trial 4
83.7cm
17.0cm
28.9cm
9.7cm
9.9cm
27.6cm
19.1cm
Trial 5
51.1cm
23.3cm
11.5cm
8.5cm
5.3cm
17.4cm
d
18.9cm
Radius
4cm
4.5cm
5cm
5.5cm
6cm
6.5cm
7cm
Trial 1
23.4cm
20.9cm
49.5cm
96.3cm
Trial 2
27.1cm
19.9cm
39.9cm
39.1cm
Trial 3
19.7cm
24.8cm
21.3cm
56.9cm
Trial 4
25.3cm
49.1cm
49.0cm
91.9cm
Trial 5
27.0cm
38.0cm
33.9cm
79.8cm
As I have proceeded the experiment, starting from 5cm radius, the parachute
repetitively flipped, which resulted as neglecting the result and repeating the
trial. From 6 cm radius, it seemed to be impossible to attempt a trial and
gather applicable data, so I have stopped the experiment from this point.
Table 2:
Radius of an apex vent
0.5 cm
61.86 cm
1 cm
30.74 cm
1.5cm
19.34 cm
2 cm
8.8 cm
2.5 cm
5.42 cm
3 cm
19.76 cm
3.5 cm
21.64 cm
4 cm
24.5 cm
4.5 cm
30.54cm
5 cm
38.72 cm
5.5 cm
72.8 cm
Graph 1:
Uncertainties
Analysis
The results of the experiment were quite interesting. Before discussing the
practical values of this experiment, it is worthy to talk about the estimated
results. As mentioned in the introduction, I have hypothesized that as the
size of the apex vent become larger, the more the fall would be like free-fall.
The closer the y-value is to 0, the closer the experiment is having linear falls.
However, the practical results were the mere opposites the estimated, which
became clear as the apex vent has grown bigger. The experiment were
following the predicted, the fall was becoming closer to a linear fall, however,
the graph 1 indicated that starting from 3 cm radius, the accuracy of the fall
of the parachute has steeply decreased, missing the prediction.
experiment. Second, the model parachute that I have used quite dont
portray real parachute. I have neglected some nuanced design in order to
make the experiment more easy and simple to conduct.
In order to improve my experiment, rather than on relying on my eyesight, I
would use a long meter stick or so, to make sure that the trials that Im
conducting are more accurate and precise. I would also use a different
material of my parachute, I dont think using paper doesnt quite portray the
real conditions of the parachute.
Bibliography:
LLC, AXIS Flight School. "Home." Skydiving Coaching and Training, Canopy Piloting, Body Flight,
Camera Flight | AXIS Flight School. AXIS Flight School LLC, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.