In this experiment we decided to test the terminal velocity of a parachute carrying a parcel of sand. We used a plastic bag to simulate a parachute which would carry the bag of sand. We would tie rope to the parachute which was unified to 1 meter, this was one of the controlled variables we had to create for a fair experiment. The size of the parachute was also unified as we only used one parachute, which is another controlled variable. Another controlled variable which we had to enforce was the the height in which we would have to drop the parachute and when we would start to time the parachutes decent, we decided the best course of action would be to drop the parachute from the fourth floor, which was 46 meters from the ground floor, and time from the third floor to ensure the initial acceleration face had stopped. .
We had to create an independent variable in order to repeat the experiment with multiple results, we decided to change the mass of the sand, we started with 100 grams of sand and gradually increased the mass of the sand 100 grams at a time for 4 repetitions, from 100 grams to 500 grams. As we increased the mass of the sand each time, we carried out the experiment three times to gather a average and to ensure fairness in the experiment. We also obtained an dependant variables which is what we measured, this was, of course, the amount of time it took the parachute to descent to the ground from the third floor which is where we started to time the parachutes descent. .
During this experiment there were quite a few uncertainties involved during the course of this experiment, the most uncontrollable was the winds influence in the course of the drop, the experiment was accomplished in the period of two days, the first day where we attempted the experiment the wind was a huge influence and disturbance in the course of the drops. The wind was strong and would increase the time in which the drop should have taken place, creating a unbalance in the mass versus drag ratio, as a result this increases the time taken for the parcel to drop and decreases the terminal velocity.
