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Paper Weight Effects on Airplane Distance

The experiment aimed to determine how the weight of paper affects the distance a paper airplane flies, with the hypothesis that lighter paper would fly farther. The results showed that construction paper airplanes flew the farthest, contradicting the hypothesis that lighter newspaper would perform better. The study concluded that the rigidity of the airplane material plays a significant role in flight distance.

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33 views2 pages

Paper Weight Effects on Airplane Distance

The experiment aimed to determine how the weight of paper affects the distance a paper airplane flies, with the hypothesis that lighter paper would fly farther. The results showed that construction paper airplanes flew the farthest, contradicting the hypothesis that lighter newspaper would perform better. The study concluded that the rigidity of the airplane material plays a significant role in flight distance.

Uploaded by

arwen.3legaspi
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Name: Mrs.

Muhlenkamp Date: 9-12-12 Core: 1,2,3

Come Fly With Me Lab


Question: How does the weight of paper affect how far a paper airplane will fly?

Hypothesis: The lighter paper airplane will fly the greatest distance because lighter
material seems to stay in the air longer than heavier material.

Materials: computer paper, newspaper, construction paper, scissors and a meter stick

Procedures:
1. Gather the materials listed above and cut the paper so that they are all the same
size.
2. Fold each of the papers into airplanes making sure they are all folded the same
way.
3. Launch each airplane three different times making sure the same person
launches all the airplanes.
4. Using a data chart, record the distance each airplane traveled to the nearest
centimeter.
5. Calculate the average distance for each type of airplane to the nearest
centimeter, and then graph the results.

Data Chart:
Paper type Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

Newspaper 117 cm 100 cm 300 cm 172 cm

Computer 301 cm 400 cm 400 cm 367 cm


paper

Construction 410 cm 517 cm 409 cm 445 cm


paper

Conclusion:
According to the data, the airplane made from construction paper flew the
farthest followed by the computer paper airplane and then the newspaper airplane. The
data from this experiment proved my hypothesis incorrect because I thought the lighter
material, which was the newspaper, would have flown the farthest. Based on my
results, it seems that the more rigid the airplane the farther it flew.

Other: 1) The size and design of the airplanes, the starting point of the flight, the
thrower, and the point from which each plane was measured all needed to be the same
in all the trials. 2) The independent variable was the paper type and the dependent
variable was the distance flown.
Name: Mrs. Muhlenkamp Date: 9-12-12 Core: 1,2,3

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