How does a Parachute Work?

How does a Parachute Work?

Image Credit: Flickr User HikingArtist, via CC

A parachute helps to land on the ground safely from a height by slowing down the speed of falling things. It is used as a safety device in case of emergency escape from aircraft , or any flying machine. It is also used in adventure sports to jump from a mountain or an airplane for thrill (sky diving).

But how does a parachute make that possible? Can a big balloon do the same?

If you notice, you will see that parachute is like a half cut balloon. Also, a parachute is very light weight but large. The large area traps lot of air in it during the fall. Now, you know that everything falls down because of gravity. What happens here is that this trapped air creates a push upwards that works against the gravity. This slows down the parachute and whatever is tied to it.

It is similar to a situation where you are putting a lot of force to run fast in the forward direction and somebody comes and starts pulling your hand backwards. You wouldn’t be able to run that fast. Right? Parachute is designed to create a force that lessens the pull of gravity. So the person wearing a parachute falls down slowly and safely to the ground.

Now a little bit of history. Artist Leonardo da Vinci drew first ever sophisticated design of a parachute. He drew a cloth-covered wooden frame in the shape of a pyramid and it had a man hanging underneath. Many years later a Frenchman  Louis-Sébastien Lenormand  implemented modern parachutes. In 1783, he made the first successful jump.

A question for all of you who are taking french classes.

Why is a parachute called so?

Think!

The term parachute is coined by putting two french words together “para” which means defense against and “chute” is a fall. So together it makes defense against a fall. 

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Comments

27 responses to “How does a Parachute Work?”

  1. scott Avatar
    scott

    kool very well done

  2. doodlebum Avatar
    doodlebum

    koooooooooooooooooooooooool

  3. jaki Avatar
    jaki

    very helpful

  4. Happy Avatar
    Happy

    OMG , its so helpful !

  5. Ram on Parachute's Working Avatar
    Ram on Parachute’s Working

    Nice and simple way of explaining how a parachute works. Thanks for sharing.

    Ram

  6. sky Avatar
    sky

    I had homework and this helped me
    thxs alot who made it

  7. Isabel Avatar

    This is very helpful for homework

  8. lynn moore Avatar
    lynn moore

    i love this site for science projects!!!

  9. rebecca Avatar
    rebecca

    Very helpful thank you

  10. Lucy Hale Avatar
    Lucy Hale

    This was very helpful for my science project. Thank you sooo much!! :)

  11. Luke Hemmings Avatar
    Luke Hemmings

    Thank you this helped me

  12. Laine Avatar
    Laine

    This website was extremely helpful for last minute science homework.

    Thank you for your help

  13. Gigi Avatar
    Gigi

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  14. KMahina Avatar
    KMahina

    awesome!

  15. Rebecca Avatar
    Rebecca

    OMG this is so helpful for my homework thx you :)

  16. Logan M. Hayman Avatar
    Logan M. Hayman

    I already knew everything here and more. I was looking for instructions on packing and professional stuff. I am also 11 years old

  17. azzjanjaxjjn Avatar
    azzjanjaxjjn

    btw syke

  18. rahul murhe Avatar
    rahul murhe

    very helpful thank you

  19. Jerry Avatar
    Jerry

    It helped me a little but thanks!!

  20. Tomm Avatar
    Tomm

    This program is all I needed.
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  21. morgan Avatar
    morgan

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  22. Swanley Avatar
    Swanley

    this did not help me very much .It is just comparing a balloon to a parachute, the proper facts kids, which are children under 13 wont understand the facts theyre are. children 13 and older are not kids or children they are simply teenagers. Does anyone agree with me?

  23. Grammar Police Avatar
    Grammar Police

    You have incorrectly spelled “cool” here is a gold star for incorrect grammar

    ^

    |/ \| well you messed up

  24. Madeline Avatar
    Madeline

    This website was very helpful. :)

  25. cole smith moore Avatar

    im an elementery student and this helped me for my sincince project thanks website

  26. Trinity Avatar
    Trinity

    Yep

  27. ben dover Avatar
    ben dover

    I agree with you

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