Gravity and Air Resistance

Gravity ad Air Resistance

By: Nafia Khan

Background Research

Purpose

and

Hypothesis

Table of Contents

Purpose:

The purpose of this experiment was to find out if the shape or physical appearance of an object effected the velocity or the rate that it fell.

Hypothesis:

My hypothesis o this experiment is that if the paper is not crumpled then it will fall slower due to air resistance. The variable that will be controlled is the height at which the objects will fall. The dependent variable in this situation is the shape of the paper.

Results

Acknowledgments..................................Slide 3

Purpose ad Hypothesis..........................Slide 4

Background Research............................Slide 5

Materials...................................................Slide 6

Procedure.................................................Slides 7-8

Results......................................................Slide 9

Conclusion................................................Slide 10

Sources......................................................Slide 11

As we all know, anything with more mass will fall faster because it is heavier. You got half of that right. The object with the more mass is heavier however, it doesn't fall faster because of the weight, something else causes it to hit the ground faster. When compared to a flat sheet of paper, a crumpled sheet of paper will fall faster because the flat sheet is held up by the air. If we remove the air then every object no matter how heavy/light it is, it will fall at the same rate. This is because gravity has the same amount of effect on everything on the planet. However, the only thing is that the more mass an object the more likely it is to have its own gravitational pull. The heavier wants to pull itself to the ground because, but on the other hand, if the fall sheet of paper doesn't have that much mass then the gravitational pull won't be as strong. This causes it to still fall a little slower, however, it's not so much that you notice it with the naked eye. Therefore, air resistance effects the rate at which objects fall.

Materials

• Paper (at least 3 depending on the amount of trials you are doing)
• Timer
• Measuring tape
• A place to drop it from (ex. The top of a table or a rooftop)
• A table to record

Acknowledgments

Procedure (con't)

Sources

Conclusions

What is velocity? (n.d.). Retrieved November 07, 2017, from https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/one-dimensional-motion/displacement-velocity-time/a/what-is-velocity

(n.d.). Retrieved November 07, 2017, from http://www.csun.edu/scied/4-discrpeant-event/how_fast_do_things_fall

I would like to specially thank Mr. Brogan for taking time to help me through the process of Science Fair because it truly helped.

Procedure

1. Make a table (i.e. the table below)

2. Crumple one of the sheets of paper

3. Now choose a table or something that you could use to measure the height at which you will throw* the items.

4. Take the crumpled piece of paper and throw it at a specific height (142.32 cm.)

5. Repeat step 4 again at least 3 times to get more consistent results

6. Record how long it takes by timing it as soon as you “throw” it

7. Now take the flat sheet of paper and flatly throw it down the side of the table

8. REMEMBER TO RECORD THE TIMINGS IN YOUR TABLE

9. Repeat step 7 at least 3 more times again for consistent results

10. Lastly average out the results to find one common answer

*By throw I mean let go of it. Do not add force for this will interfere with the results of this experiment

The conclusion that can be drawn after the experiment is that air resistance highly affects velocity due to the fact that gravity has an equal amount of force on every object. When you take out the only thing causing this mishap, air resistance, the everything will fall at the same speed no matter the mass or physical appearance.