Cardboard boomerang experiments and calculations

[jjellybean320]

I have to come up with an experiment using cardboard boomerangs that the rest of the class will do. The class then has to make calculations and test out the boomerangs to see if their calculations were correct.

However, i don't know what kind of experiment I can have the class do with cardboard boomerangs. How could i find the velocity or the angular momentum? and How could i prove that my calculations are right?

Please help. thank you.

 

[berkeman]

I have to come up with an experiment using cardboard boomerangs that the rest of the class will do. The class then has to make calculations and test out the boomerangs to see if their calculations were correct.

However, i don't know what kind of experiment I can have the class do with cardboard boomerangs. How could i find the velocity or the angular momentum? and How could i prove that my calculations are right?

Please help. thank you.

Welcome to the PF.

What research have you done so far on how boomerangs work? Can a flat boomerang work, or does it need to be a shape other than flat?


EDIT -- I don't mean the shape in the U-shape direction, I mean the contour of the material...

 

[jjellybean320]

yes a flat boomerang will work because i am using very light cardboard, and the boomerang will be very small. I have tried to find the radius of path but i need to know the lift coefficient of my boomerang. I don't know how I would find that out. So I thought about simply trying to find the velocity, but I don't know how I would go about doing that.

 

[berkeman]

yes a flat boomerang will work because i am using very light cardboard, and the boomerang will be very small. I have tried to find the radius of path but i need to know the lift coefficient of my boomerang. I don't know how I would find that out. So I thought about simply trying to find the velocity, but I don't know how I would go about doing that.

How do you expect to get lift from a flat boomerang? What have you read so far about how boomerangs work?

 

[jjellybean320]

http://blossoms.mit.edu/video/tan/tan-watch.html

I have watched his video. That is the boomerang i intend to make. I want to know the possible calculations I can make with my level of physics understanding (I am an ap physics student).

 

[berkeman]

http://blossoms.mit.edu/video/tan/tan-watch.html

I have watched his video. That is the boomerang i intend to make. I want to know the possible calculations I can make with my level of physics understanding (I am an ap physics student).

The concept I was asking about was how you generate lift with the cardboard. I didn't watch the full 30-minute video, but presumably he talks about how to bend the cardboard to make more of an airfoil shape with lift.

The wikipedia link has lots of good info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomerang

They talk about the airfoil and lift aspects, and there are links to cardboard/paper boomerang articles.

As for calculations, I'd look for any lift calculations that are outlined in the wikipedia or other articles, and see if you can relate that to how quickly the boomerang turns in its flight.

 

[jjellybean320]

thanks, i'll look into that.