Science Project “A Turbulent Card” Complete School Projects on Air, Water, Weather and Temperature for Class 8, 9, 10 and 12 Students.

A Turbulent Card

Materials Required:

1. A magazine
2. Playing Cards

Flatten out a magazine on the floor. Hand over six playing cards to a friend. Ask him to drop each card from a few feet height, so that it lands on the magazine. Show him how to hold a card, as shown in the illustration, but don’t tell him that the card has to be held vertically, before it is dropped.

1.If he holds the card vertically before dropping it, it will flutter to one side, missing the magazine.

2.Now you show him the way to do it. You hold the card horizontally, so that the card is parallel to the floor. Let it go. The card will land on the magazine.

When a card is dropped, gravity pulls it towards the floor. The surrounding air, however, resists its downward fall. Dropped horizontally, it floats on the magazine, given the air resistance is equal over the card surface.

If dropped vertically, the card falls through the air on its thin edge because the flat surface encounters small air currents that result in the card turning slightly. While turning, it slips sideways, on its thin edge with less air resistance, thereby missing the magazine.