Forces of Flight 1: Helicopters Pt. 1

October 4, 2024 - Room B1 young engineers are back at it when they learned and tested the theory of gravity and air resistance in this fun STEM project. We created paper helicopters,  and tested to see which helicopters would take the longest to fall to the ground. We found out that varying the size and shape of the rotor blades, and the weight of the helicopter affect the way a helicopter spins. We learned that when we dropped the helicopter from a height, gravity pulls the helicopter down. The air resists the movement and pushes up each rotor differently, causing the helicopter to spin. That made the helicopter landed gently instead of free falling.
​After 16 rounds of competition, Nicholo & Santiago won the time challenge by having their helicopter in the air the longest (2.63 seconds).
Photographer: Santana