Posted in Scientific Saturday

Thanks, everyone for your comments on the last edition of Scientific Saturday! It was fun to read all of them. Well, last week I asked if a Frisbee would fly farther on the moon than on earth. Here is your answer.

If a baseball was thrown on the moon, it would go farther because since there is no air on the moon, there is much less friction. So would a Frisbee fly farther on the moon than on earth? Yes, I guess it would (because of the lesser amount of gravity) but only depending on how hard you threw it. Because of the way the Frisbee is shaped, air moves faster over the top than under the bottom. The difference in air pressure keeps the Frisbee flying longer. Since there is no air on the moon, this would not be true. Sorry, I don't know if the Frisbee would just flip through the "air" instead of sailing -- I guess we'll have to go up there and test it!

The same would be true about a paper airplane (although I really don't know what makes them fly). It wouldn't matter how you designed the plane; it would fly farther depending on how hard you can throw. So, the summary is, all things being the same, yes, it would fly farther. The difference is in how and why it would fly.

Be sure to join me next week for another exciting scientific fact!