How To Make A Paper Helicopter
What You Need:
- A piece of paper
- Some scissors
- A paperclip
STEP1 – A good size to make your helicopter is with an 8″x2″ piece of paper.
STEP2 – Mark the paper as shown in the picture. Just make a cut where you see a solid line and make a fold where 
you see a dashed line!
you see a dashed line!STEP3 – Make the two small cuts and fold the paper over and use a paperclip to hold it in place, as shown.
STEP4 – To make the wings simply make the cut down the middle of the unused side and fold the wings down so you’ve got something that looks like our final helicopter!
STEP5 – Hold the helicopter up high and drop it! Watch how it spins! WHY DOES THIS WORK? As the helicopter starts to fall the air pushes past the wings. Most of this air pushes upwards against the falling helicopter (which is why it falls slowly) but each wing causes some of that air to push to the side. There’s an equal sideways push on each of the wings but in opposite directions and that’s what causes the helipcopter to spin!
More Fun Experiments With Your Helicopter
- What happens if you add more paperclips?
- What changes can you make with the dimensions to make your helicopter spin faster?
- How big a helicopter can you make?
For more fun with the scientific dynamics of air, schedule The Weird Science Show to come to your school or other event. The www.greatassemblies.com show has exciting demonstrations featuring the effects of air pressure and the Bernoulli Principal.