Date of Lab: 7 February 2016 By: Eliot Abramo Teacher: Emma Collery Class: 7D

The effect of mass (grams) carried by
a parachute dropped at 8 meters and

the time(s) it takes to reach the
ground
Date of lab: 7th February 2016

By: Eliot Abramo
Teacher: Emma Collery
Class: 7D
Research Question:
How does the weight (mass) added at the end of the parachute affect the time (s) it takes
to fall?
Hypothesis:
My hypothesis is that the higher the mass added the lower the time it takes to fall
because the affect of gravity is greater than the air resistance. As Isaac Newton said:
“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Every object will fall at the
same speed in a vacuum, and air resistance can appear to make an object fall slower.
This means that, just as the Earth is exerting a gravitational force on the objects, the
objects are exerting a gravitational force on Earth. Just as much as the objects fall onto
the Earth, the Earth falls onto the objects as well. It's just the fact that the Earth is so
much larger that we see things from the first perspective. Nevertheless, the gravitational
force exerted on the Earth by the objects cannot be ignored. Gravitational force is
determined by the Universal Gravitation law: F = (GmM)/r^2`.
Variables:
IV: The weight added on the parachute (g)
DV: The time it takes to fall down (s)
Variables that will be How they affect the data? How they will be
controlled controlled?
Height it is being dropped It will make the data fair Take a meter tape and drop
at it from the same place
(above the stair case).
The length of the string and By putting more weight on By cutting equal pieces of
the way it is attached to the one side and making the sting
parachute data less reliable
The parachute itself By making he experiment By using the same
of fair test parachute
Weather By creating currents that By dropping it at the same
could affect the DV. place, at the same time with
the same conditions
Materials:
1. String
2. Tracing Paper
3. Masses (g)
4. Measuring Tape
5. Stopwatch
Methodology:
1. Make a small parachute using tracing paper, 2 strips of strings, and before
putting them together, add a weight (mass) by putting it through both the
string.
2. Then make four holes on the corners of the square-shaped parachute and
put each end of the string through the holes.
3. Make a double knot to tighten the strings up and let them connect with
the parachute.
4. Take your designed parachute and four extra weights (mass) with you
and go to a place with an approximate height of 8 m and drop the
parachute from that height (meters).
5. Time, the time it takes for the parachute to reach the ground.
6. Repeat this 5 times.
7. Note the data
8. Add a weight (mass) and repeat
9. Keep on doing this till you have 5 weights on the parachute
10. When you are done, do a table like below
Results:
Table of results
Time (s) Average
Mass (number of Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5
weights added)
1 7.38 5.51 5.93 4.88 4.56 5.652
2 4.61 4.55 4.41 3.99 4.58 4.428
3 3.68 3.60 3.41 3.66 3.48 3.562
4 3.55 3.05 4.26 3.08 3.01 3.39
5 2.56 2.95 2.78 2.13 3.03 2.69
Observation
Mass Observation
1 The parachute kept on moving side ways
2 The parachute got tangled against the bar
3 The parachute went down straight
4 The string broke 2 times because the weight was too great.
5 The string broke 2 times because the weight was too great and it went down
really fast.
Conclusion:
The hypothesis was accepted because the mass (g) carried by the parachute was
increased. It took the parachute less time (s) to higher the mass added the less time it
took to reach the ground (m) because it was carrying a higher mass which created a
larger effect of weight. When the mass (g) was decreased the effect of gravity was lower,
so it took less time (g) to reach the ground. The trend of this experiment is that when the
mass was increased the time (s) to reach the ground decreased creating a negative
correlation. They were no anomalies (error).
Evaluation:
Limitation Improvement
The string kept breaking Use stronger string
Kept on landing on the stairs Through it more forwards
Changing the weight Modifying the design so that it is easier to detach the
string
Finding the exact 8m Making the distance lower
Going up and down the stairs Making the distance lower
When the string got tangled Making the string shorter
Work Sited:
 "Why Do Heavier Things Fall Faster than Lighter Things If Dropped from a
Certain Height? Related to Gravitational Force. - Homework Help - ENotes.com."
Enotes.com. Enotes.com

Date of Lab: 7 February 2016 By: Eliot Abramo Teacher: Emma Collery Class: 7D

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The effect of mass (grams) carried by

a parachute dropped at 8 meters and

Date of lab: 7th February 2016

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