Testing parachutes
Physics · Early Years · The School
Building a parachute
Take a small square of thin plastic or tissue paper. Tie a short piece of string to each corner. Tie the loose ends of the string to a small light toy. Hold the middle of the square up high, and let it drop. Watch the canopy fill with air as it falls.
Guess before you test
Make two parachutes for the same toy. One with a small canopy. One with a big canopy. Before you drop them, guess out loud. Which one will land first? Which one will float down slower? Say your guess, and say why you think so.
Testing two sizes
Drop both parachutes from the exact same height, at the exact same moment, with someone helping you. Watch closely. The small parachute lands first, reaching the ground quite quickly. The big one floats down much more slowly, drifting gently, taking its time to reach the ground.
Two identical toys. One has a small parachute. One has a big parachute. Drop them together, from the same height, at the same moment. The small parachute reaches the ground quickly. The big parachute is still floating down, well above the ground. A bigger canopy catches more air on the way down. That caught air pushes back harder, and that is exactly why the bigger one falls so much more slowly.