Flight Experiments

Flight Experiments

Birds have fascinated people because they can do something we can't - fly. Man has always dreamed of flying like birds. Although we can fly in airplanes, helicopters, and other man-made machines, we have never been able to move as swift, free, and graceful as most birds.

Here are four simple experiments on flight. Before each experiment have everyone write down a hypothesis as to what they think will happen. Explain each experiment to them, but don't tell them the names of the experiments or they may be able to guess the results. These experiments will help show students how birds, and airplanes, fly. They are simple and require no special tools.

The Floating Paper:

Materials needed:	Strips of paper - 2" by 8 1/2"
Procedure:	Hold the strip of paper so that the 2" side is placed firmly under your lower lip. The paper should be hanging in front of your chin the long ways. Blow from your mouth strongly. At first you will be blowing across only a small portion of the strip of paper - that portion that is closest to your mouth. Observe what happens to the paper.
Results:	The paper will rise. As you blow across the paper, the air moving on the top side of the paper is traveling faster than the air on the bottom. This faster moving air creates lower air pressure on the top of the paper. Underneath the paper there is higher air pressure. This creates lift which pulls the paper upwards.

A Wing's Cross-Section

Materials needed:	8 1/2" by 11" sheets of paper. Scotch Tape (optional)
Procedure:	Fold a regular sheet of paper in half bringing the 8 1/2" sides together. Make sure that you do not fold a crease in the paper. To make the experiment easier, tape these two ends together. Otherwise, you will have to hold them together tightly. Place the paper on a flat surface so that the taped end of the paper is at the edge of the flat surface. The other end should be rounded and sticking up. Put your mouth close to the taped end of the paper and blow strongly across the top of the paper. Observe what happens to the paper.
Results:	The rounded end of the paper will rise in the air. As you blow across the top of the paper the air will be moving faster than the air underneath the paper. This faster moving air creates low air pressure. Underneath the paper there will be higher air pressure. This creates lift which pulls the paper up.

Magnetic Ping-Pong Balls

Materials needed:	2 Wooden Dowels (pencils will work fine.) 2 Ping Pong Balls 2 pieces of string 8" long.
Procedure:	Tape one end of each string to a ping pong ball. Tape the other end of each string to a wooden dowel or pencil. (It is important that when you tape the string to the wooden dowel or pencil that the ping pong balls end up hanging the same length and when they hang they are about 1/2" away from each other.) Hold the wooden dowel or pencil in the air so that the ping pong balls are hanging straight down. Hold the other wooden dowel or pencil behind the two ping pong balls so that they do not move all over the place. Now, blow in between the two ping pong balls and observe what happens to them.
Results:	The ping pong balls will pull towards each other. As you blow between the ping pong balls, the air moving on the inside of the balls is traveling faster than the air on the outside of the balls. This faster moving air creates lower air pressure on the inside of the ping pong balls. The air pressure on the outside of the balls is higher. This creates "lift", but in this case the lift is on the side of each ball, not on the top. This "lift" pulls the ping pong balls towards each other.

Impossible Ball Remover

Materials needed:	2 liter bottles Ping pong balls - one for each 2 liter bottle.
Procedure:	Cut the top off of each 2 liter bottle. Make the cut just where the bottle top stops curving. This will make the bottle top into a funnel. Hold the funnel so that the small end is pointing down. Place a ping pong ball inside the funnel. Blow through the bottom of the funnel. Observe what happens to the ping pong ball.
Results:	The ping pong ball will not move. It is impossible to blow the ball out of the funnel. Why? Simple, the air going through the funnel's mouth and around the bottom of the ball is moving faster than the air on the top of the ball. This creates low air pressure on the bottom of the ball at the small end of the funnel. The air pressure is higher at the wide end of the funnel. The lift in this experiment is at the small end of the funnel and actually pulls the ball down.