Parachute Lab Essay

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IBDP Physics Practice Lab - Factors Affecting the Drop Time of a Falling Body By Clevis Tam Aim: To investigate how the relationship of the terminal velocity of a falling parachute depends on the mass of the clay. Variables: • Independent Variables: The mass of the Clay (g) • Dependent Variables: The time the clay takes to reach the ground (s), The speed of the clay that is processed after collecting data (ms -1) • Controlled Variables: Method of releasing the clay, the area of the parachute Materials / Apparatus: 1. Meter Ruler (0-1m, measures to 0.001m) 2. Electronic Stopwatch (measures to 0.01s) 3. Drop Height (2.56m) 4. Scissor 5. Plastic Bag 30cmx30cm 6. Strings 7. Clay 8. Plastic Bag Methods: 1. Make a Parachute using a pair of scissors and rulers by cutting out a 30x30cm plastic bag and sticking it with four different lines in order to connect the body later on. 2. Measure 8 different clays with different mass, 10g, 15g, 20g, 25g, 30g, 35g, 40g, 45g 3. Measure the height between the top of where we are going to drop the parachute and the ground with a meter ruler. It is measured as 2.56m. 4. One person will be in charge of releasing the parachute, while the other would be recording data and timing how long the parachutes would take to hit the ground. 5. Counting 1,2,3, then releasing the parachute from the top of the drop point. 6. Three repeated trails for each mass (Step 5) 7. Removing the previous clay and apply the 15 g clay. 8. Repeat step 5-6 for all the other clays. 9. Find the average time for each clay with different mass to hit the ground. 10.Find the speed of the parachute in each trial and the random uncertainty from the repeat trials. 11.Plot a graph of mass (x-­‐axis) against time (y-­‐axis) to look for a relationship. If the first graph is not linear it will be necessary to further process the data and plot further graphs to try to find a

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