Frisbees

Introduction:

Flight has been best explained by the Bernoulli's principle that states that a particular shape of wing will make the air on top of the wing move faster creating a low air pressure causing the slower moving air under the wing to move upwards to re-balance the air pressure, this causes an uplift. But more than this is needed for flight. In flight there are also four other necessities these are maximum thrust and lift and minimum drag and weight. So with the Frisbee having such a sleek, low weight design it is easy to make fly. One of Newton's laws, which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction also explains another reason that Frisbees fly. When the person throws the Frisbee he uses his energy and transfers it to the Frisbee giving it thrust and also a little spin allowing the Frisbee to lift and fly into the sky until gravity pulls it back to the ground.

Aim:

The aim of this experiment was to learn about the Bernoulli's principle and Newton's laws by making Frisbees. The experiment was also to use this knowledge to research what materials would fly best. We did this by making three different Frisbees, one of paper, one of plastic and one of cardboard and testing these three designs.

Hypothesis:

predict that any of these designs with the least weight but still a solid structure and sharp edges will fly the best. This is why I predict that the plastic or cardboard designs will fly the best because they are lightweight and a good shape. I also predict that paper will do the worst because it wont be solid enough to go a long distance in the air.

Procedure:

1. Collect the paper, plastic, cardboard and scissors
2. Cut the paper, plastic and cardboard into same size circles between 15cm and 20cm in diameter
3. Modify the design by cutting a hole in the center
4. Use the same person to throw the Frisbees for each of the tests and do multiple tests to get a good estimated answer
5. Measure each design and record there height, distance and also general comments on how they flew

Result:

Design 1: All Frisbees have no holes and are 15cm in diameter.

Design 2: All Frisbees have a large hole in the center. All are 15cm in diameter.

Discussion:

When testing these Frisbees we found out that although minimal weight is ideal, when it weighs too little the structure will not be stable enough to fly. Examples of this was when a circle was cut out of the paper Frisbee and it made less distance and height then when the paper Frisbee had no hole. We also have found out that with sharper edges and smoother sides the Frisbee will create less drag allowing it to fly further distances. With the knowledge and results we have gathered from this experiment it is clear to say that our plastic Frisbee design had the least drag and weight but still maintained a solid structure that could withstand strong forces of thrust and lift.

Conclusion:

In this experiment we tested the flying ability of three Frisbees made of paper, plastic and cardboard. We tested this by having the diameter of the Frisbee and the Frisbee thrower the same, which was our experimental control. The variables that we tested were the materials that the Frisbee was made from and the design of the Frisbee. With the results from this experiment we can come to a conclusion that plastic is the best material to make a Frisbee from because it flew the highest and furthest in both of its designs. We can also conclude that paper is the worst material to make a Frisbee from because it does not have enough stability to fly a good distance. The results from this experiment strongly support my hypothesis and prove my theory that plastic is the best Frisbee material and paper is the worst.