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Pilots tie their balloon to the ground
until it is ready to fly away. This prevents "false
lift" from picking the balloon up before it is
actually hot enough to fly. Much like the air passing
over an airplane wing, wind flowing over the top of
the balloon can actually pick it up! Since the balloon
isn't actually hot enough to fly, this action often
results in an uncontrolled, hard landing. Ouch!!!
Materials List:
Hair Dryer
Sheets of 8.5 x 11 paper
Scissors, ruler, pencil
1- Using a long, flat table as your
"runway," plug the hair dryer in close to
one end of it. Put one sheet of paper flat on the table,
a few inches from the end nearest the hair dryer.
2- Turn the hair dryer on low, and
hold it a few inches above the table. Moving it around
to find the right angle, the paper should then lift
off and fly briefly.
3- Explore other shapes (diamond, oval,
circle, etc.) to find out which shape flies best. Your
flights will not be very high (1/2-1 inch) is excellent!
4- What happens if you use a crumpled
piece of paper? Explain.
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