ADRENALINE RUSH: THE SCIENCE OF RISK - Big Movie Zone

ADRENALINE RUSH: THE SCIENCE OF RISK
Now, you can also build Leonardo’s parachute.
For this experiment, you will need:
1. Four sheets of paper (preferably construction paper)
2. Some string (four lengths of 12 inches or 30 centimeters, and a little extra)
3. A precise ruler
4. A pair of scissors or a box cutter
5. Some light adhesive tape
To Do:
6. Four straws or light sticks (optional)
To prepare an eight-inch high (20 centimeters) parachute,
1
2
3
4
cut four isosceles triangles
8 inches wide (20
cm) and 8 7/8 inches
(22.4 cm) high
(see figure 1).
Figure 1
Tightly tape the sides of
the four faces of the
parachute together to
produce the pyramid
shape.
Tape a piece of string to
each corner, and tape
or tie the end of the
four strings together.
Use some string or tape to attach a light
object to the parachute strings. A wine
cork has just about the right weight for
this size parachute, although you can also
test the effects of lighter and heavier
objects. To make the chute more solid,
straws or light sticks can be used to create
a square frame at the base of the
parachute.
More advanced options:
Figure 2
You can try making models of Leonardo’s parachute in different sizes, and using different
materials like cloth or plastic, by using some basic mathematics to figure out
the proportions. To figure out dimensions, use the Pythagorean theorem (a2 + b2 =
c2). Here’s how.
Leonardo da Vinci specified that his parachute should be “a length of gummed linen
cloth, with a length of 12 yards (“braccia“) on each side and 12 yards high“. Since it
is as high as it is wide, we can use the Pythagorean theorem to create a model of
any size.
Figure 3
For example, for a 12 inches wide parachute (see figure 2) we know that a=12, b=6
(half the total width). This means that the hypotenuse equals the square root of 180
(144+36), or approximately 13.4 inches (13 7/16“). The hypothenuse is the height of
each face of the parachute, meaning that each face should be 12 inches wide and
13.4 inches high (see figure 3) to produce a 12-inch high pyramid. The strings should
be approximately one and a half times the height of the pyramid.
Please note that bigger models will definitely need a frame to keep the opening in
its square shape as the parachute flies. You can also experiment with the weight of
the attached object. If it is too light, the parachute will be unstable. If it is too heavy,
the parachute will fall too fast.
13