Affect The Flight Time Of A Balsa Wood Glider Engineering Essay

Affect The Flight Time Of A Balsa wood malarkey instrument sailplane Engineering EssayThe purpose of the lease was to obtain the similarity among the escape valve fourth part dimension and rear crown of a balsa sailplane of antithetic fly subject theater. in every case the effect on rush cartridge clip was recorded by ever-changing the position of move of the soaringrs.In the number one part of the examine the sailplanes were impeled from four contrastive summit and the feather while was recorded. The try protrude was conducted in a close commonwealth in frame to avoid the effect of construction. The sailplanes utilize were of different size and shape. The mesh quickening acting on the sailplanes was in like manner write in coded by plotting a chart betwixt whole of course epoch and drive whirligig.In the second part of the test the extension service positions for three about different sailplanes were deviated and the feather clock cl ock date was recorded in severally(prenominal) of the three gliders. The launch cover of the gliders was kept selfsame(prenominal).It was observed that as the launch meridian was change magnitude the out lessen magazine as well increase. The amount of face- overdress could only be analysed by calculating the wage quickening in each of the gliders.The variation in the charge of steps prison term due to the change in the position of fenders was interpreted in terms of the increase in the intertwines made by the gliders i. e. the in perceptual constancy of the gliders or the moments of wings.Word Count- 221Table of Contents-Introduction _______________________________________ 4 possible action _______________________________________ 5Experimental Set up ___________________________________ 9Method ________________________________________ 10Result _________________________________________ 12Conclusion _________________________________________ 22Limitations ____________ ____________________________ 23Unresolved Questions _________________________________ 24Bibliography ______________________________________ 25Appendix ______________________________________ 26IntroductionThe question about aeromechanics has great importance in todays dates and the conglomerate factors that touch on aerodynamics of an short lettercraft or a glider is necessary in sound out to remediate the efficiency. By taking up this experiment I arouse tested to analyse the acting draw and quarters on the rush of a glider much(prenominal) as the lift, the ravel, and the tusht alike the theory of projectile trend plays an authoritative role in determining the pip sequence of a glider. Also keeping in mind the laws of physics that relate to flight and also leading whether they argon in accordance with the following experiment.Research Question-How the pilot range and position along with the launch height affect the flight m of a Balsa Wood sailplane?The aim of this experiment is to study how the wing plain, wing position and the launch height micturate an wedge on the flight condemnation of a balsa glider.In order to establish the to a higher place similes balsa gliders of different wing areas were great deal launched from different heights and the flight sentence was recorded.As for the relation with the wing position and flight time they were bargain launched as well from a heady height with different wing positions.TheoryThe experiment is ground on the theory of projectile accomplishment, and fluid mechanics.Projectile Motion-When a consistency is projected from a certain height with a certain speeding, the speedup on the consistence acts only in the downward (along y-axis) direction and the acceleration along the horizontal (x-axis) direction is zero.Since the air resistance also affects the horizontal motion of the automobile trunk in that respect cogency be some deceleration, thus far it is of a very small magni tude hence it can be neglected in the case of my experiment.The same explanation can be interpreted for the wind on that point great power be some serving of the beat back (due to wind) which might affect the horizontal motion as well. This is also taken care of in the experiment as it is conducted in closed area.As the initial velocity is in the horizontal direction its upright piano comp mavennt is zero, by taking the vertical motion the flight time of the glider should depend on the height from which it has been launched and the net acceleration in the vertical direction.By varying the height in the experiment the flight time should also vary proportionately. As the height is increased the flight time should also increase.Due to the change in the specialtys acting on the glider the net acceleration can also change which in turn impart affect the flight time.Forces thither are three types of fights acting on a glider which areWeightThe charge of the body always acts in the downward direction.The weight of a body dependent on the plug of the glider and gravitative acceleration which can be taken constant for a presumption space. By Newtons second law of motion, the weight is given by (F = mg)Itis the bear ondue to the gravitational attraction of the earth on theglider. But this fierceness weight, which is the gravitational force, is different from the aerodynamic forces,liftand sweep.The lift and the drag are mechanical forces that pass on act on the glider only when it is in physical fall into place with air which generates these forces. The gravitational force or weight is a business line force and is a non- come to force.The gravitational force (weight) amongst two objects depends on the masses of the two objects and the inverse of the square of the surpass between these objects. The much than the masses of the objects the stronger is the attraction, and closer the object are the stronger the attraction. fosterageLift is theforcethat acts on a glider upward and helps the glider to stay in the air. The lift on the glider is mainly generated by the wings.It is anaerodynamicforce produced by the motion of air flowing th clownish the glider. Lift acts through thecentre of the pressureof the glider and is in the direction which is normal to the flow of air.Lift occurs when a flow of air isturnedby the glider. concord to Newtons 3rd law of motion the flow of air is turned in one direction, and the lift is generated in the opposite direction. Since air is a particle acceleratorand its molecules are free to move about, any unharmed can trouble its flow. For anair foil, both the upper and lower come outs plays part in move the flow of air.thither can be two types of lift smesa and dynamic lift.Static liftaccording to the Archimedes principle whenever a body is immersed in a fluid it experiences an upward force called the buoyant force.The factors on which the buoyant force depends areThe volume of the fluid displa ced and the density of the fluid.If the area of the wings increases the magnitude of the lift should also increase and the net force acting on the glider should also increases which in turn should mitigate the net acceleration and hence increase the flight time.Dynamic Lift check to Bernoullis principle the dynamic lift is due to the difference in pressure on the two sides of the body which is due to the difference in the speed of the air on the two sides of the body. in that location are various factors that affect lift, these areAircraftwing geometryhas a large effect on the amount of lift generated. The shape and size of the wing leave behind urinate a significant impact on the amount of lift generated.In order to generate lift there must be some velocity hence if the object is go in air then(prenominal) lift will be generated. Lift also depends on themassof the flow.it also depends in a major way on the viscosity and compressibility of air. unenviable force or Drag steamy f orce is a mechanical force. The drag, like lift, is also produce by the fundamental interaction and contact of a unwavering body with air. For drag to be produce, the solid body must be in contact with the air. If there is no air, there is no drag. Drag is generated by the difference in the speeds of the solid object and the air. There must be congeneric motion between the object and the air. If there is no relative motion, there is no drag. Viscous force always opposes the motion, hence it will be opposite to the motion of the glider.The most of the factors affecting drag is same as that affecting the lift.The gummed force can be taken as the aerodynamic friction, and one of the sources of this force is theskin frictionbetween the molecules of the air and the solid surface of the glider. Since the skin friction is an interaction between a glider and the air, the magnitude of the skin friction depends on properties of both glider surface and air. The smooth, wax surface of glider will produces less skin friction than a rough surface. And for the air, the magnitude of skin friction depends on theviscosityof the air.The relative magnitude of the viscous forces to the motion of the flow of air is called theReynolds number.Also the drag can be taken as the aerodynamic resistance to the motion of the object through the air. This source of drag depends on the shape of the glider and is calledform drag. When air flows approximately a body, the velocity andpressure around the glideare changed. The pressure is a measure of the momentum of the air molecules and a change in momentum results in aforce, a change in pressure will produce a force on the body. This component of the aerodynamic force that is opposed to the motion is the drag.Viscous force directly depends on themassof the air flow outlet past the glider.Effect of Height on Flight timeIn this experiment there will be 4 heights taken but the height legal separations will not be uniform in order to check th e trend and see if there is a give the axe distinction in readings of flight time. As the height increases the flight time should increase as there is more distance to cover for the glider and since there are no forces acting as mentioned above, it is only the height that acts as a factor to change flight time. vaporize areaIn this experiment the wing area should effect the flight time of the gliders as seen earlier, lift has a direct connection with wing area. As the lift increases the glider goes higher in the air thus increase the flight time.Every glider has a different wing area and this crystallizes a clear distinction between the flight times for the gliders. aviate positionThe wing position whether towards the drift or back determines the stability of the glider while its flight. The more it is to the appear of the socket it tends to do be more uns tabular array and has a very loopy flight which increases the flight time.The go on behind the wing is in the socket the more stable the glider is as the weight is more towards the centre of mass, making it more stable and also increasing the flight time however whilst a straight and match there are other(a) forces acting on the flight that might pull it down to the ground.Experimental Set upsailplanesIn the initial stages the glider used were made by hand victimisation a template to cut out the parts of the gliders. However these gliders lacked perfect stability and the edges had to be rubbed and smoothened in order to use exact them all told aerodynamic. Even after doing so they lacked perfect specification and the material used to make them was not the right material hence they did not glide as required to.The gliders used in the later stages were bought online from amazon.com. These gliders are laser cut and ready to fly. They are made out of balsa wood. There were 3 types of gliders that were used, the parts of the gliders were precisely cut and well balanced in order to obtain a decent flig ht. The 3 gliders varied otherwise in shape, size, and weight and wing area.AreaThe experiment was conducted in a closed environment. The length of the place was approximately 35meters and width approximately 12meters. The wind factor was restrainerled as all doors and windows were shut and it was an enclosed area.MethodThere were various steps that are involved in this experiment.The glider was first flown in an outdoor environment to check the flight. Since the wind factor cannot be controlled in an outdoor environment it was not possible to conduct the experiment outside as this affects the flight time. Hence an indoor area was chosen. standard Wing AreaThe gliders that will be used which each have different shape, size, and wing area. The first variable wing area cannot be measured by a given formula as it is not a uniform shape and cannot be broken into smaller shapes.The wing area will be measured by keeping the ideal wing on a graph sheet whose each square area is known an d the outline of the wing shape will be sketched out on the graph sheet. After having done this the number of thoroughgoing(a) squares of the known area that are enclosed by the outline of the wing will be counted. After this the number of incomplete squares and an approximation will have to be made as it is not feasible to calculate area of a fraction of the square. This will be done for each of the three gliders and will be noted down.In order to make sure that the gliders, glide properly without any hindrance and technical obstacle a test flight will be done. If there be to be any technical problems with any of the three gliders they shall be persistent at first in order to provide accurate and legit readings. If any parts seem to be broken they will be fixed by the special adhesive which is used to stick balsa wood. launch and Measuring Flight TimeKeeping in mind that there are no holders or creation devices provided with these gliders they will have to be launched by the f ree hand as it is not possible to project a launch method. This is so because making any alterations to the glider might distort its stability and will cause unequal weight balance.Although launching from the hand will have uncertainties such as different launch force and height it will be controlled as much as possible.In order to make sure the height is constant a plumb line will be taken and held from the comfortable launch height. This plumb line will then be measured in accordance with a metre scale. Every time a glider is launched it will be launched from the same height as the thread will be held at that height while launching the glider. The second height from which it will be launched will be after standing on top of a dining table. The height of the table will be measured by using another plumb line and will be measured in accordance to the metre scale. This height of the table will be added to the initial launch height and then a plumb line of that height will be held wh ile the launch.The fourth height will be from approximately the first floor. The vast interval difference is taken so that there can be a clear trend that can be observed for the flight time. The height of the wall will be measured and then the initial height of the launch will be added to this. The fourth height will be from above a table on the first floor, in order to obtain this height the same step as the one for the table height on the lower level will be used. victorious the readings of the flight time will be done by using a stopwatch. It is not possible for me to do this alone as starting signal the stopwatch and launching the glider is not possible at the same time hence a little assistance will be required to measure the flight time. The assistant will start transcription the flight time as soon as the glider leaves contact with my hand and will stop as soon as the glider touches the ground. These readings will then be recorded in a table. There will be 5 readings taken for each glider at each height.There are two wing positions possible all at the front of the socket or the back. Each gliders wings will be adjusted as front and back and for each position there will be 5 readings taken.ResultFlight time for different launch height (Experiment1)Glider AHeight (meters)Flight time( 0.01s)Average(0.13s)t2(sec2)1.51.641.781.841.811.743.032.242.212.452.532.282.385.685.33.833.944.043.723.9115.296.044.814.634.794.844.7522.54As the height was increased the flight time also increased. Since the glider used was the same and the speed with which it was projected also remained same the lift experienced by the glider did not change. The increase in the time was only due to the increase in height from which the glider was projected.Glider BHeight (meters)Flight time( 0.01s)Average(0.13s)t2(sec2)1.51.251.51.281.31.321.752.241.541.681.611.591.612.605.32.191.942.42.332.245.026.042.783.012.922.842.878.26The trend between the time of flight and the height of launch w as same as in the case of glider A.Glider CHeight (meters)Flight time( 0.01s)Average(0.04s)t2(sec2)1.50.930.901.010.940.940.882.241.161.211.241.191.191.435.31.571.591.551.61.572.456.042.12.122.112.152.114.47The trend between the time of flight and the height of launch was same as in the case of glider A and B. hence in all the 3 cases it was rear that the lift experienced by the gliders did not depend upon the height of projection or the height at which the glider was flying.As seen above in the graph the flight time of the glider is directly proportional to the height from which it has been released i.e. as the height increases the time taken by the glider to touch the ground also increases.According to the equation of motion 2If we are considering the vertical motion then the initial speed in the vertical direction will be taken as zero then 2. The three forces acting on the glider that is the weight (mg), the drag and the lift are all constant. Since the drag and the lift depend on the speed of the glider it is not changing as the speed in all the cases are constant.The above relation can be made linear by plotting a graph between t2 and h from this graph the net acceleration acting on the glider can be calculated by measuring the hawk of the graph.Since2. pay acceleration = 2/ incline of the curve.Measurement of net acceleration of the glider.Glider ACalculationNet acceleration = 2/slope of the curve.Net acceleration in glider A= = 0.51 m/s2Glider BCalculationNet acceleration = 2/slope of the curve.Net acceleration in glider B= = 1.62 m/s2Glider CCalculationNet acceleration = 2/slope of the curve.Net acceleration in glider B= = 3.1 m/s2The Glider C has the supreme acceleration and Glider A has the least. This also means that Glider C comes to rest much more quickly than Glider A, Glider A also has a longer glide time and this is because of the light weight and wing span that makes it more stable while in flight. Whereas when compared to Glider C the wei ght is much more and the glider isnt stable passable to stay in air for a long time. The wing area also has a significant impact on this as the more wing area means more lift however when we check Glider C has more wing area but it yet doesnt get enough lift this explains that this glider needs more thrusting when launched in order to stay in air longer than the others.Wing stake (Experiment2)Glider AWing correct for APositionFlight time( 0.01s)Average(0.11secs) apparent motion1.721.851.91.681.771.78Back1.561.591.721.61.521.60As seen above when the wings of the glider are moved forward the flight time of the glider increases.Glider BWing Position for BPositionFlight time( 0.01s)Average(0.11secs)Front2.132.062.242.172.262.17Back1.661.591.631.821.741.69As in the case of Glider A when the wings of the glider are moved forward the flight time of the glider increases.Glider CWing Position for CPositionFlight time( 0.01s)Average(0.12secs)Front1.471.591.611.531.421.52Back0.840.790.940 .751.030.87As in the case of Glider A and B when the wings of the glider are moved forward the flight time of the glider increases.As we can see in the graphs above the time taken for the flight when the wings are in front is more than the flight time for when the wings are pushed backward. This is because the forward wings make the flight of the glider much more unstable and cause it to loop more. The looping increases the time to touch the ground as it causes sudden neighboring(a) lift and this also increases the horizontal gliding time.Whereas on the other hand when the wings are pulled back in order to make the flight more stable but there are still other factors like weight, lift and drag that are constantly affecting the flight and causing it to descend.ConclusionIn the first part of the experiment it was plant that the flight time increases as the height from where the glider was launched increases. I each of the 3 gliders the lift acting on the glider did not change as the area of the glider remained same. The change in the flight time was only due to the change in the height of the launch. The graph between the height of launch and the square of flight time gave the measure of the net acceleration in case of the 3 gliders which in turn could be interpreted in terms of net force acting on the glider. The measure of net acceleration showed that the lift produced in case of the gliders increased with the wing area. The lift in the case of Glider A was found to be maximum, as it had the maximum wing area.In the second experiment the flight time increased as the wing position was shifted towards the front of the glider. The trend obtained in all the three gliders was the same. The increase in the flight time was due to the increase in lift that made the glider shoot up and loop in the air. As the glider looped in the air the height also increased which in turn increased the flight time. The increase in the loop made by the glider was due to the instabili ty produced by shifting the weight of the wing to the front of the plane.LimitationsThere were several limitations while doing this experiment. The first and what can be considered as the most important is the launching technique. This is the most crucial part of this experiment and all the readings depend on this. Due to the fragile bodies of the glider there could be no launching technique devised that would make sure the force on each launch is the same. The lift acting on the glider depends on the speed of the glider if the launching speed varies it can affect the lift experienced by the glider.Since it is not possible to neither control the force used for each launch nor measure it, it was the biggest drawback.When the experiment was conducted in the open the wind factor had a great impact on the flight of the gliders. The gliders being light and very fragile, the wind outdoor was go the gliders into different directions and also slowing them down. This change in path and time was random and unpredictable. Since it was not possible to control the wind the experiment was carried out in a closed environment, yet there was some wind that affected the flight and caused slight deviation in path which could have possibly increased the flight time or even lessen it.Since the gliders were launched several times and had not landing mechanism as well, the rough landing chipped quite a few parts of the gliders that made the flight for the later readings relatively unstable and defective.Unresolved QuestionsThe effect of projection velocity on the flight time was not clear as the gliders were launched with just about same velocity and force.The speed with which the glider moves effects both the lift on the glider and the drag acting on it. The two forces are very important in deciding the flight of the gliders.By innovation a proper launch mechanism the effect of speed or the launch force would had been analyze.Also the efficiency of the flight could have been st udied by measuring glide ratio i.e. the ratio of the horizontal distance travelled and the loss of height travelled in a given time.BibliographyBooksGiancoli, Douglas C., natural philosophy Principles with Applications, 6th Edition, Pearson Education Limited, NJISBN 0-13 -184661-2-1.Nelkon, M., and Parker, P., Advanced level Physics, London, Heinemann Educational Books Limited, ISBN 0-435-68636-4Tsokos, K., A., Physics for the IB Diploma,5th Edition, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-13821-5Websiteshttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliding_flighthttp//www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/glider.htmlhttp//www.skysailing.com/pages/theory.htmhttp//web.mit.edu/16.00/www/aec/flight.html