Iris Valdez
Cal Poly Pomona
SCI 210 Lab

Forces that act on a paper airplane:

THRUST - This force is the push on the plane. If you throw the paper airplane, you are using your muscles to throw the plane forward.
LIFT - This force is caused by the wind caught under the wings of the paper airplane. The wind helps the airplane resist some of the force of gravity. If the airplane rises while it is in flight, that is because the air underneath the plane is pushing harder than the gravity on the plane.
AIR RESISTANCE - This is the force that acts against the airplane when it is flying. The smaller, the air resistance, the farther your plane will fly. Air resistance can also be called "Drag."
WEIGHT - Weight is caused by the force of gravity. The plane will eventually reach the ground because of its weight, but if you keep your plane light, it will be able to stay in flight for a longer time.

When all of these forces are in balance, your plane will be able to coast and fly a far distance!

MATERIALS:
-Plain paper. (8.5" x 11"). Students will need three sheets each.
-Meter sticks. Student's may work in pairs or groups. They will need at least two sticks per group.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Regular Airplane
Step 1: Fold a piece of paper in half, landscape style.
Step 2: Bend the top corners inward, so that they meet together along the middle fold.
Step 3: This is how your paper airplane should look like now.
Step 4: Fold the paper in half along the middle line. (This is what your plane should look like from a side view).
Step 5: Bend the wings down at about 2 inches from the bottom.
Now you have a regular airplane!


2. Unbalanced Airplane
Follow steps 1-5 of the Regular Airplane directions. Afterwards, lift one wing and bend the other wing further to create an imbalance among the wings.
This is how your airplane should look like!

3. Airplane with bent Ends.
Follow steps 1-4 of the Regular Airplane directions.
Step 5: Bend the wings so that they are bent about two inches from the bottom, near the nose, and diagonally to about 3/4ths of an inch from the bottom, near the rear.
Step 6: Bend the rear wings of the plane so that they fold from the middle end point to one inch on either side.
This is how your plane should look!

PROCEDURE:
Designate an open area where the students can lay out their meter sticks end to end. Let the students work in pairs or groups. Have the students stand at the end of the starting meter stick and throw their paper airplanes one at a time. Allow the students to record the structure, distances, and behavior of their airplanes.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Which airplane traveled the farthest? Did you expect this?

How do you think you could change the airplane to make it go farther?

Which airplane created a loop? Why do you think this happened?

Which airplane flew in a spiral? Why do you think this happened?