Hypothesis (What I think will happen)
I think that the small plane will fly further because less force is required to make it go faster because it is lighter than the bigger plane, but with more thrust for both planes, the big plane might win because of the bigger wingspan.
Background
The first paper plane was made around 200 years ago.
The longest distance ever flown by a paper plane was 88.1 metres.
There are four forces that act on the paper plane when it is flying.
- Thrust, how fast it is pushed
- Lift, how much wing area can be pushed up
- Gravity, pulls the plane down
- Drag, slows the plane down
This video shows some information about how paper planes fly. I thought that it does a great job explaining how to make a great paper plane.
Equipment
- A4 paper
- A5 paper
- Chalk
- Metre stick
Steps (Method)
Follow these steps for your own paper plane.
Get a piece of paper
Fold it in half
Unfold it
Fold the ends
Fold the ends again
Fold it in half
Fold the wings
Results (What we found out)
The big plane flew further.
We measure how far each plane travelled using a metre ruler. The results are shown on this table.
| Attempt | Big plane | Small plane |
| 1 | 4.2 meters | 3.9 meters |
| 2 | 5.3 meters | 4.5 meters |
| 3 | 3.7 meters | 3.6 meters |
| Average distance | 4.4 | 4 |
Conclusion (what it means)
The big plane flew further than the other plane.
Why I think that the big plane flew further because it has bigger wings therefore creating more lift.
I did some research and found out that planes with bigger wings fly further because they can generate more lift. Here is a Youtube video explaining why. Especially at 5.30 where he talks about bigger wings generating lift.
This website also has a great explanation about wing sizes and lift.
What I would change
I would test it inside of the gym because the wind outside might have changed the results.