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Re: [Phys-l] hands-on aerodynamics



Just repeated what I did the first time (printing directly from the URL
site), and it worked just fine (got the whole design in red and black). So,
some glitch in my original attempt.

Don

Dr. Donald Polvani
AACC Community College
Arnold, MD 21012

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
[mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of LaMontagne,
Bob
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 3:59 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] hands-on aerodynamics

Probably the printer or driver. It downloaded and flew fine for me. Try
printing to a pdf file first - then you can inspect it before it goes to the
physical printer.

Bob at PC

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-
bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Donald Polvani
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 3:26 PM
To: 'Forum for Physics Educators'
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] hands-on aerodynamics

Just tried to print out the design using Outlook 2007, and Internet
Explorer
9 for the cited URL on my HP 932C printer in color. I got the bottom half
of
the design (with red and black lines) but not the top red triangle. On
the top
half the black words printed and the black dashed line labeled "5"
also printed out, but none of the red lines.

Is this my printer or something else?

Don

Dr. Donald Polvani
AACC Community College
Arnold, MD 21012

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
[mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of John
Denker
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 2:18 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: [Phys-l] hands-on aerodynamics

Hi --

Since there has been some interest in aerodynamics....

There are good paper airplanes and not-so-good paper airplanes.
Experimenting with good ones can teach a lot about physics in general and
aerodynamics in particular.

Here is a good "baseline" design:
http://www.av8n.com/fly/pdf/paper-glider.pdf

This is not supposed to be the be-all-and-end-all greatest design, but
rather a
tradeoff between simplicity and good performance.

Note that some of the folds are tight 180-degree folds, while others are
quite
open, closer to 90 degrees, giving the overall aircraft something of a "W"
shape. Also note a bit of clever origami technology: fold #5 creates a
pocket
that /captures/ the points that were folded onto location "O" by step #4.

You can trim the flight characteristics by putting very slight bends in
the
trailing edge.

After you've made one or two of these, you won't need the instructions
anymore. In some locales, every 2nd-grader knows how to make such a
thing from a blank sheet of paper, freehand. In other locales, not so
much.

I am aware that most printers cannot bleed all the way to the edge of the
paper. There is nothing /important/ within
1/2 inch of any edge in the instructions.

Note that these things have been known to "escape" from the physics
classroom into other classrooms where they might not be entirely welcome.
Students should be reminded that this is not a particularly brilliant or
original
idea.

============

Things get interesting when you take this design as a starting point for
exploratory experimentation.

-- Optimize it for slowest airspeed
-- Optimize it for best lift-to-drag ratio
-- Optimize it to fly upside down
-- Have a contest for maximum distance after flying over
one barrier and /under/ another. This requires both good
design and good technique.(*)
-- et cetera

(*) Note that without the barrier, the winning design would be a wadded-up
piece of paper. This is an artifact that arises because there is
effectively
unlimited initial energy.
You want to set up the contest rules to reward some semblance of energy
efficiency.

==========================================

As a separate exercise, get an ordinary low-cost balsa-wood glider from
the
store, and re-arrange the parts to create a /canard/-type aircraft, i.e.
with
the main wing in the rear.
Of course we want nice, steady, stable flight.

This task is either very easy or very hard, depending on whether or not
you
understand the physics.

Hint: http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/aoastab.html
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l


_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l