Most of the time, paper airplanes don’t exactly match other planes. They can either fly upwards, downwards, left, right, or sometimes even straight. No matter what type paper is used, it can never match a professional’s paper airplane. All of this is due to the design of the plane. For example, if the plane is perfectly built but has a round nose rather than a sharp nose, it won’t be able to fly far. The three factors that can make a good paper airplane are aerodynamics, gravity, and balance. Aerodynamics is the study of the properties of moving air, and especially of the interaction between the air and solid bodies moving through it. For example, facing your hand in front of you and waving it left and right is a lot smoother than waving it
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Paper planes that are folded for long distance usually stays in the air for a long time because they have a lot of lift but little thrust, but they are meant to be thrown with a lot of force. Unlike paper airplanes, darts don’t have a lot of lift nor drag because they depend on extra thrust to overcome gravity. Also another way balance can affect the plane's flight is by having different weight on opposite sides. For instance, more weight on the back with have more lift but will land sooner than having more weight in the front. Balance force has been talked about in one of our lab experiments where you attach four strings to four different weights and laying them on a flat circular disc to balance the center of the ring that holds the strings. The reason why I wanted to know more about paper airplanes is because their simple designs can have great effects on their performance. I find that their models could be deceiving but once flown could change my mind. The simple planes that most kids can fold are the basic easy ones that lacks their look are always better and faster than planes that replicate fighter jets. Without applying to the three factors to creating an efficient paper plane, the plane could not work they way one
Paper planes that are folded for long distance usually stays in the air for a long time because they have a lot of lift but little thrust, but they are meant to be thrown with a lot of force. Unlike paper airplanes, darts don’t have a lot of lift nor drag because they depend on extra thrust to overcome gravity. Also another way balance can affect the plane's flight is by having different weight on opposite sides. For instance, more weight on the back with have more lift but will land sooner than having more weight in the front. Balance force has been talked about in one of our lab experiments where you attach four strings to four different weights and laying them on a flat circular disc to balance the center of the ring that holds the strings. The reason why I wanted to know more about paper airplanes is because their simple designs can have great effects on their performance. I find that their models could be deceiving but once flown could change my mind. The simple planes that most kids can fold are the basic easy ones that lacks their look are always better and faster than planes that replicate fighter jets. Without applying to the three factors to creating an efficient paper plane, the plane could not work they way one