Purpose: To determine the effect a smaller size paper clip has on the time it takes the gyrocopter to hit the floor. Hypothesis: If we change the weight of a gyrocopter by changing the larger paperclip on the control gyrocopter to a smaller paperclip on the modified gyrocopter, it will then take the modified gyrocopter longer to fall and hit the ground because it is lighter and has more air resistance. Air resistance is the friction of the air and the object have against each other therefore the lighter the object is the more air resistance there will be because it is falling slower. Therefore “Weights allow for different air resistances – the heavier the object, the less air resistance... This resistance change, via weight, will cause the gyrocopter to fall in correspondence to the weight/number of paper clips (more/faster, less/slower).”(Fletcher, 2011) …show more content…
In order to get constant result to drop it, one must stand on the second step, elbow on the end of the middle railing, and drop on 3-2-1-DROP. On DROP the timer will be started and stopped once any part of the gyrocopter hits the ground. This will be repeated 2 more times. To change the Control gyrocopter into the Modified gyrocopter, the larger paperclip must be removed and replaced with a smaller paperclip. Then repeat the DROP directions. Observations: Time of Flight (s) 1 2 3 Average