AJ+SF

__**1.Title**__- Shapes affect on drag.

__**2.Problem-**__ What shape of parachute has the most drag? Does the number of strings attached to the parachute also affect the drag?

__**3.Hypothesis**__ - If you alter a parachutes design, then the amount of drag will change.

__**4.Procedure**__ 1.Measure the same surface areas for two circles, two rectangles, and two squares on nylon. 2.Cut them out and using a grommet plier punch four holes in the one set of shapes, and eight holes in the second set of shapes. Makes sure to evenly space your grommets. 3.Tie strings into nots through each hole, making sure each string is the same length by using the ruler. 4. Make a loop on the other end and attach to the scale. 5.Turn on fan to the highest setting. 6.Record the amount of grams the parachute is pulling and repeat for each shape. 7.Fill in data table with results.

__**5.Materials**__ Nylon Sheets Fishing String Scissors Fan Fish Scale Ruler Grommet Pliers Grommets

__**6.****Data Table**__


 * || Trial 1 || Trial 2 || Trial 3 || Trial 4 || Trial 5 || Trial 6 || Trial 7 || Trial 8 || Trial9 || Trial10 ||
 * Circle-4 strings || 6g || 6g || 5g || 6g || 6g || 6g || 6g || 6g || 6g || 6g ||
 * Rectangle-4 strings || 3g || 3g || 3g || 3g || 3g || 3g || 4g || 3g || 3g || 3g ||
 * Square-4 strings || 2g || 2g || 2g || 3g || 2g || 3g || 2g || 2g || 2g || 3g ||
 * Circle-8 strings || 8g || 8g || 9g || 8g || 8g || 8g || 8g || 8g || 9g || 8g ||
 * Rectangle-8 strings || 5g || 4g || 5g || 5g || 5g || 3g || 6g || 5g || 5g || 5g ||
 * Square-8strings || 5g || 5g || 5g || 5g || 6g || 6g || 5g || 4g || 5g || 5g ||

__**7. Pictures**__

Picture one is some of the materials. The scissors, grommet pliers, and some grommets. Picture two is the rectangle parachute without strings. Picture three is the square parachute with the strings attached. Picture four is the fan, scale, and one of the parachutes attached.

__**8.Graphs**__

The first graph shows the average amount of grams by the parachutes with four strings attached. The second graph is the same except with eight strings attached. __**9. Log Book**__

11/6/11-Purchased all of the needed materials

11/12/11-Made all of the parachutes. Connected them to a scale and realized we needed a smaller one. We had a smaller fishing scale that we could use.

12/28/11-Took pictures of the project to upload on here

1/7/12-Typed everything that needed to be on here

__**10. Abstract**__ This experiment is to find out which shape of a parachute with more or less strings creates the most drag. After making all the shapes having the same surface area, attach four strings to one set and eight to another buy using the grommet pliers. Connect these to the scale and fan one at a time and measure how many grams it pulled. After the tests, the circle with eight strings pulled the most grams, thus having the most wind drag. This experiment could be used for research. Different types of recreational sports want different amounts of drag, and some of the most common shapes are tested here, just on a much smaller scale. Further tests could include more shapes and more or less strings attached.

__**11.Problem-**__ What shape of parachute has the most drag? Does the number of strings attached to the parachute also affect the drag?

__**12.Hypothesis**__ - If you alter a parachutes design, then the amount of drag will change.

Parachutes have been used for years for various activites, wether it's saving your life or just gliding down a canyon. These different activities require different amounts of drag, which is why they have different shaped parachutes. Jumping out of high altitudes to save your life, obvisiouly your going to want a lot of drag. However if your seeking the thrill of fast moving hang gliding, you are going to want a lot less drag. The problem was which shape does have the most drag, and does the amount of strings attached play a role also. If you have all the same surface area, does the shape even matter? The hypothesis was, if you alter a parachutes design, then the amount of drag will change. The equiptment can all be found at your local hobby/ hardware store. The procedure is simple and easy to follow. Collecting the data was as simplistic as hooking each shape up to the scale, turning on the fan, and writing the amoung of grams.
 * __13. Experimentation__**

__**14. Discussion**__ After many trials the circle with eight strings attached proved to have the most drag. Looking at graph number two you can see that it did indeed have the highest average drag in grams. In both the four string and eight string trials the circle had the highest average drag in grams. By comparing the table, graph one, and graph two this can be seen. By looking at the table all of the parachutes had higher drags with eight strings over the ones with four strings. This shows that the number of strings does change the amount of drag. This experiment could be improved. Having more shapes with different amount of strings could help improve the results. Also, making the parachutes bigger and increasing the fan strength could help get more accurate results. There may have been some erros that occures during this experiment. Our house is old and drafty and some trials were not in the same place. This could have possibly led to stronger winds blowing the parachutes. Another mistake could have been in the calculations. In order to get all of the surface areas equal to one another, many calculations and measurings were taken place. Even with these possible errors the results seemed to come out fairly accurate.

__**15. Conclusion**__ The problem was, what shape of parachute has the most drag? Does the number of strings attached to the parachute also affect the drag? The answer to these questions and plainly visible in the table and graphs above. The circle shaped parachutes had the most drag. The number of strings attached does affect the results, as the parachutes with eight strings had more drag. So, if you alter a parachutes design even with keeping the same amount of surface area, it does change the amount of drag.

__**16. Applications**__ This experiment can be used in real life. By knowing what shape of parachute creates different amounts of drag can help with which shape is appropiate for what is being done. Using bigger surface areas on the parachutes and using a bigger fan could be used to more accurately tell how much drag that particular shape will have.