Air Resistance Experiment Investigation

Hypothesis :

As the surface area of the A3 paper decreases, the air resistance decreases and the time taken for the
paper to reach the ground increases.

Independent Variable :
 The surface area of the paper

Independent Variable :
 The time taken for the piece of paper to reach the ground
 Air resistance & Drag

Controlled Variable :

Controlled Variables How will you control it? Possible effect if not
controlled

Height from where it is By marking the height from
dropped. which the first sheet of paper
is dropped and dropping the
same sheet of paper (when
folded) from the same height
of 1 metre
The time taken for the sheet of
paper to reach the ground will
not correlate making the
observation of this expriment
inaccurate.

Same paper to be used
By folding the first A3 sized
paper you used.
The mass of the paper will
vary causing the time taken for
the sheet of paper to reach the
ground to not correlate making
the observation of this
experiment to be inaccurate.

Materials:
 A3 size construction paper or white paper.
 Stop watch
 Measuring tape

Method/Procedure:
1. Take A3 construction or white paper.
2. Measure and mark a height of 1 m using a measuring tape or a meter rule on the nearby wall.
(Coloured tapes/ rulers could be used to mark the height of 1 m distance)
3. Take the paper, stand near the wall and drop it on the surface gently from the height of 1m.
4. Start the stopwatch at the same time when you drop the paper.
5. Note down the time taken for the paper to reach the ground in the Raw-data table.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 for the same paper 2 more times.
7. Fold the A3 paper into A4 and A5 sizes and repeat the steps 3 to 6

Observation

Paper size Time taken 1 Time taken 2 Time taken 3 Average time
(seconds) (seconds) (seconds) taken
(seconds)

A3 1.28 1.23 1.48 1.33

A4 0.84 0.89 0.90 0.87

A5 0.73 0.79 0.74 0.75

 Weakness Method to improve
External forces acting upon the paper Conducting the experiment in an enclosed
Eg: Breeze environment

Human error -
Finding the exact time taken for the paper to By taking a video of the paper reaching the
reach the ground ground and finding the exact time by observing
it.

Conclusion:
When an object is dropped, the force of gravity will cause it to speed up as it falls. But friction with the
air, called drag, will tend to cause it to slow down. How much drag there is depends mainly on the
surface area of an object. A compact object experiences less drag than an object of the same mass that
is spread out.