My Little Parachute Test
So, I was messing around the other day, thinking about how parachutes actually slow things down. You see them in movies, floating gently, but how much does the thing hanging underneath matter? Does adding more weight make a big difference? Decided to just try it out myself, you know, hands-on.
First, I needed a parachute. Didn’t have anything fancy. Just grabbed a plastic grocery bag – one of the thin ones. Cut out a decent-sized circle from it. Wasn’t perfect, but looked okay. Then, I needed lines. Found some basic string in the kitchen drawer. Punched a few small holes, maybe six or eight, spaced around the edge of my plastic circle. Tied short pieces of string through each hole.
Next step was gathering all those strings together underneath. Tied them all in a knot. Looked kind of like a jellyfish, I guess. Now for the weight part. Rummaged around for small things.
- Found a couple of old washers in my toolbox.
- Grabbed a small toy car my kid doesn’t play with anymore.
- Also found a bigger, heavier bolt.
Okay, ready to test. First up, the washers. Used some tape to stick them securely to the knot where all the strings met. Didn’t want them falling off mid-air. Stood on a chair – not exactly skydiving altitude, but high enough to see what happened.
Attempt 1: Washers
Let go. The plastic canopy popped open pretty well. It floated down, a bit wobbly, but definitely slower than just dropping the washers on their own. Took maybe two seconds to hit the floor. Not bad.
Attempt 2: Toy Car
Untaped the washers, taped on the small toy car. It was noticeably heavier than the washers. Stood on the chair again. Dropped it. Whoa, definitely faster this time. Canopy still opened, but it came down quicker, maybe took just over a second. Less floating, more falling.
Attempt 3: Heavy Bolt
Alright, time for the big test. Got that heavy bolt taped on. This felt much heavier. Back on the chair. Dropped it. Zip! Straight down. The canopy barely seemed to slow it down much at all. It hit the floor pretty hard and fast. Less than a second, for sure.
So, what did I figure out? Pretty simple, really. The weight makes a huge difference. The parachute helps, yeah, it catches the air. But if the thing hanging from it is heavy, gravity just pulls it down much harder and faster. The light stuff gets a nice gentle ride, the heavy stuff still plummets, just maybe not quite as fast as without any chute at all.
It wasn’t exactly rocket science, just messing around with a plastic bag and some junk. But it showed me clear as day how that parachute weight changes the whole game. Heavier load equals faster drop, simple as that.