Effect of a Paper Plane’s different masses on its time on flight

The following experiment (underneath) is to do with a paper plane and its mass and time of flight. Here is a chance to experiment with different masses of a paper plane to observe how it affects it’s time of flight.
Research Question: How does the mass (g) of a paper plane affect the time (seconds) of its flight?
Hypothesis: It is expected that, the more mass on the paper plane’s wings, the time of flight will decrease. This is because more mass; the faster gravity will pull it down.
*Independent variable: Number of paperclips (amount of mass in grams) Dependent variable: The time of flight –measured in seconds.
X Controlled variables: Throw it with the same force in each throw, and same angle of the throw.
Materials:
 Stop watch
 3 pieces of A4 paper to make paper planes
 1 balance
 12 paperclips
Method:
Make 3 ordinary paper planes from A4 sheet of paper Find someone who is willing to throw the paper plane for all the trials in the experiment. Take the paper plane and weigh it using the balance (weighing scale), to note down its mass. Find an open space for the plane to fly freely and take your planes there. Throw 1 paper plane from shoulder level and start the stop watch at the same time of the throw. Stop the stop watch the moment when the plane touches the ground. Record your data and repeat steps 4-6 four more times. For the second trial, add 1 paperclip to each wing and weigh the plane before testing the throw and note down the mass. ( see diagram below) Throw the plane with the 2 paperclips as a total from shoulder level and start the stop watch at the same time of the throw. Stop the stop watch the moment when the plane touches the ground. Record your data and repeat steps 8-11 four more times For the 3rd value of independent variable, add more paperclips to each wing to make a total of 4 with 2 on each side. Weigh the plane and note it’s mass. Throw the plane with the 4 paperclips from shoulder level and use a stop watch to measure the time. Stop the stop watch the moment when the plane touches the ground. Record your data and repeat steps 15-16 four more times Now, add 2 more paperclips to the paper plane to have a total of 6 paperclips with 3 on each side and weight the paper plane and record its mass. Throw the plane with the 6 paperclips from shoulder level, and start the stop watch at the same time of the throw. Stop the stop watch the moment when the plane touches the ground. Record your data and repeat steps 19-20 four more times. Now, add 2 more paperclips to the paper plane to have a total of 8 paperclips with 4 on each side and weight the paper plane and record its mass. Throw the plane with the 8 paperclips from shoulder level, and start the stop watch at the same time of the throw. Stop the stop watch the moment when the plane touches the ground. Record your data and repeat steps 23-24 four more times.
Record your data in the table below: Raw Data Table - time of paper plane’s flight with different masses.
Mass of Paper plane (g) Time of flight (seconds) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5
5.09 1.91 1.81 1.49 1.35 1.66 6.42 1.29 1.40 0.86 1.16 1.32
7.80 0.69 0.70 1.02 0.69 0.30 9.13 0.58 1.00 0.47 0.84 0.68
10.47 0.53 0.73 0.66 0.56 0.55

Processed Data Table 1 – average time of paper plane’s flight with different masses. Mass of paper plane (g) The average ( add all the trails and divide it by 5)of time of flight (seconds)
5.09 1.55
6.42 1.23
7.80 0.90
9.13 0.71
10.47 0.61
Graph:
Calculation
Average= (Trial 1+Trial 2+Trial 3+Trial 4+Trial5)/5
Example:
In the raw data table, when the mass of the paper plane was 5.09, to calculate the average I had to add all the trial’s together and divide the total by 5 (as there were 5 trials) : 1.91 + 1.81+ 1.49 + 1.35 + 1.66 / 5.
Analysis:
As the mass of the paper plane increased, the time of flight decreased. This is because the more weight added onto the wings of the paper plane the more gravity will pull it down therefore it’s time of flight reduced. We had some anomalies in our raw data table, such as, when the mass of the paper plane was 7.80, the time of flights were somewhat in a consistent range, between 0.40- 1.0. However on the final trial for that mass, the time of flight decreased to 0.30. This may be due to the reason that there were a couple of throws where there was no one in the passage way working on their experiments, which prevented the paper plane from hitting them. This gave us inconsistent results at some points. To avoid this we should have kept clearing the passage at all times for the paper plane to fly at long as it could, by requesting other students to move whilst our trials were being measured. The results (or data) support the hypothesis, as we predicted the time of flight would gradually decrease with more mass. Although, at that time we didn’t think about the limitations that might occur, and make the results not completely reliable. Likewise, According to research, it too is proven that in reality, when aircrafts which are bigger with a lot of mass, including the luggage and passengers, those aircrafts fly faster and can go higher in the air, than the smaller aircrafts. This connects to the investigation as it explains how the mass had an effect on the descending of the object. Evaluation:
Limitation’s Table
Limitations Impact on the data How it could be solved/avoided
Participant sometimes throws the paper plane with more or less force in each throw. Provides inconsistent data which don’t have good consistency for the data, this also makes the plane glide or fall. Keep reminding the same thrower that even though there are many paperclips doesn’t mean you have to throw harder.
The paper plane would hit objects/people around the area. The data becomes in accurate due to the interruption. To choose an area where there is nothing that can get in the way of the throw.
Angle of throw The force in our throw and angle of aim was limited as there was a wall which would stop the paper plane, even though it could fly longer, and the angle had to be in a certain limit, as the ceiling was low and there were pipes in which the plane could have tangled in. Try and use a big, open area such as a field which doesn’t limit your angle of throw and usage of force in each throw to get more accurate data.
Reaction time We possibly stopped the stop watch a second late. It made our experiment take longer than planned. By being in a space where you can concentrate and have fun with your experiment without getting distracted.

Conclusion: It is observed in the graph that the more paper clips there are on the aircraft, the aircraft has a shorter time of flight. It agrees with our hypothesis because we predicted the same thing which was; “We think that the more mass on the paper plane, the time of flight will decrease. This is because more mass; the faster gravity will pull it down.” The method that we wrote does collect valid data, but we had some limitations. If we could change the experiment we would be more aware of our surroundings and possibly change the design of the aircraft. Bibliography: MLA format:
Strauch, Annette. "Science Project on How the Mass of a Paper Airplane Affects the Speed That the Plane Will Fly." EHow. Demand Media, 07 Sept. 2011. Web. 21 Aug. 2012. .