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Paper Plane Launcher

Materials you’ll need

  • paper
  • cardstock

  • rubber band

  • stapler

How to

  1. Take the paper and fold it into any paper airplane you’d like. Set it aside for later.
  2. Take the cardstock and fold it in half longwise. Crease well.

  3. Fold one end in half, making sure to crease well. Turn the paper over and fold the other end in half.

  4. Fold each end back up in half on one side and repeat for the other. It should look like an accordion.

  5. Open up the paper. Use a stapler to attach the rubber band to the paper at the end, making sure to avoid the crease.

  6. To launch the airplane, stretch the rubber band over the back of the launcher, securing it on the edge of the middle fold.

  7. Slide your paper airplane into the slot.

  8. Pull the two paper edges outward and watch the plane fly!

Learn more

The elastic properties of a rubber band allow it to have potential energy, or the potential to do work. When you pull back on a rubber band and flick it, it’s able to convert the potential energy to kinetic energy, the energy of motion. To make the paper airplane fly, we’ll be converting the rubber band’s potential energy to kinetic energy by pulling on the rubber band, bending it over the back of the launcher, and moving the launcher outwards to release it. This transfers the kinetic energy from the rubber band to the plane to make the plane fly!

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