Paper Plane Lab

Maddie Roth
September 15, 2012

Objective: To design a plane to go the greatest distance.

Hypothesis:It is thought that a small plane with a weighted nose will go farther.
Intro: The purpose of this lab is to create a paper airplane to go the farthest
distance. This lab is based on a trial and error basis. Build the plane, see how far
it goes and make changes. When making changes make them one at a time so
you can keep track of the progress. The more flights the planes the more it can
be modified to make it better. The independent variable is adding and removing
paper clips to change the weight. The dependent variable is the distance of the
plane. The constant variable is the paper design. The purpose of this lab is to
create a plane the will go the farthest distance.
Materials: 8 by 11 white computer paper, scissors, 2 paper clips and 1 meter of
tape.
Procedure:
1. Fold two triangles at the top of the paper.
2. Fold paper in half hot dog styles.
3. Fold in half again hamburger style.
4. Tuck wings under on each side of the plane.
5. Fly the airplane, measure and record the distance.
6. Modify your plane accordingly.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 twice more.

Data:
Flight

Distance

Flight 1

40cm

Changes

What Happened
Did a loop de loop and
landed on its back.

Flight 2

86cm

Folded and
taped top.

Flew more straight but

still landed on back.

Flight 3

180cm

Cut off and

taped bottom,
added
paperclip to
nose.

Flew straight and

landed smoothly.

Flight 4

55cm

taped front

Did loop de loop again

and landed nose first.

Analysis:Some possible forms of error could be that the paper airplane wasnt
built right. Another form of error could be the way the plane is thrown. It might not
be thrown the same way every time which could change the results. The are
factors that can change the results of the experiment but overall the goal of this
experiment was achieved.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the hypothesis was partially correct. The weighted
nose did not always make the plane go farther. It would sometimes go farther but
other times did not. With the trial and error the correct changes were made to the
plane which enabled the plane to go farther.