Month: June 2016

Equipment – Clamp, Stopwatch, Paper Helicopter, Paper clips, Ruler.

One of the most important pieces of equipment is the clamp. it holds the ruler in place and keeps it at the same height making it a an accurate test. It is more accurate than a human hand because the person holding the ruler could be moving. The Stopwatch is used to measure the time ( Dependant variable ) and its the most precise equipment we have because it measures time in milliseconds. This will give us a precise result making the experiment accurate.a mm Ruler is the most precise height measurement we have access to. Plus it is easy to monorover.

My independent variable is the mass of the helicopter. We change the mass by adding more paper clips each time. This will decipher if the helicopter takes longer to land. The Depandant variable is the time it takes to land and we will record this by timing it with a stopwatch. Therefore inreasing the mass of the helicopter will decrease the time taken for the helicopter to fall.

I will be dropping a paper helicopter from the same shape and design but different mass each time. It will be thrown from the same height (e.g. 1 m height). I will measure the average speed by using the formula Distance over Time. Then I will start changing the mass of the of the helicopter to see what effect it has, proving my hypothesis.

Dear RAF,

Hello, My name is Josh Bowles. I’m 14 years old and I attend The London Nautical School. The science department is very  interesting and the experiments which take place help us understand the world of science. Myself and two colleagues are carrying out an investigation. Our experiment will involve dropping a paper helicopter from the same height a number of times , however we will add mass each time to see how mass effects the time it take for the helicopter to fall and hit the ground. Our hypothesis is that by increasing the mass of the helicopter ( adding paper clips ) will decrease the time it takes for the helicopter to fall. Here is a statement from BBC Bitesize which is a well known and reliable scource: “Falling objects increase their speed as they fall, because their weight (the force of gravity) pulls them to Earth. They also experience an upward force called air resistance (drag), which slows them down.Objects fall faster until they reach their terminal speed, which is reached when the upward (air resistance) and downward (weight) forces are equal.”

I believe this experiment/investigation will benefit your company because you can transfer the information which we have gathered into making more efficient and safer helicopter air crafts. Just remember this could save lives of your men and others .

It saddens me and my team to hear that one of your men died due to a malfunctioning helicopter. Thank you for your time, and hopefully you agree and hear what we have to say. Just remember this experiment can save millions of lives in the future.

Josh Bowles

Dear RAF,

My name is Joshua Bowles. I’m 14years old and I attend The London Nautical School. I am writing to inform you that I am doing an