Science Smarts: Flight science
By PATTY ROOKS on July 15, 2023.
It always amazes me at the interesting STEM careers we have right here in southeastern Alberta! I recently had the privilege of meeting a few Drone Specialists – top Engineers in their field. I was completely in awe at how they could fly those amazing little aircraft with such ease. Unfortunately, I have never been quite coordinated enough not to crash them… so I tend to observe more. As I saw some of their pretty amazing stunts and maneuvers being performed, it reminds me how these pilots got started. It likely started in their Grade 6 classroom and the ability to master four scientific principles: gravity, lift, thrust and drag. I think we need to investigate these further with pretty simple (yet fun) hands on activity. Let’s get started! *Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment. Materials A few sheets of normal printer paper Scissors Ruler Table to work on Procedure 1. Fold the piece of paper in half lengthwise. Make a nice crease in it and then unfold it. 2. Take one of the top corners and fold it down, grabbing the other top corner and meeting it (you will have a point on the end of the paper now). Crease these and do not allow them to overlap. 3. Fold the outside edges in so they come together in the middle of the paper. 4. Grab the point and fold it back to where these two edges of the paper came together. 5. Refold the paper on the crease. 6. Lay the paper on one side and fold it halfway over and repeat on the other side. 7. Get ready for your test flight! 8. Make some necessary modifications in order to ensure your plane can have optimal flight – you may have to fold the wings a bit differently, use the scissors to cut some flaps – do some experimenting! What is going on? In case you were not able to guess, you made a simple paper airplane – sometimes also known as a dart. I had you make a simple paper airplane first so you could become familiar with the four concepts mentioned above. Did you know that gravity affects your plane because it is a force that will be pulling it down; lift helps the aircraft by pushing it up, thrust allows it to move forward and drag actually holds it back. Aeronautical engineers actually experiment like this in order to develop the best aircraft possible. Even drone designers and engineers (yes there is such a career) also have to deal with these four scientific principles in order to develop the best drones out there. For instance, they may deal with drag by changing the speed of the propellers; in order to move the drone horizontally, they are able to tip it up by slowing the rotors on one side and speeding the rotors on the other side up. The slower two rotors will dip down while the two that sped up will rise and the drone will pick up some amazing movement horizontally. Try making adjustments like this to your plane. What happens if you change the angle you throw it at? How about the strength (thrust) you throw it at? Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca. 24-23
