Parachutes

📖 In short

A parachute is a big piece of light, strong cloth that opens in the air like an umbrella, slowing the fall of people or things dropped from a plane so they reach the ground gently and safely.

🤩 Did you know?

Many parachutes are between 3 and 7 meters across.
Rectangular parachutes come down a little faster than round ones.
Leonardo da Vinci drew a pyramid-shaped parachute idea more than 500 years ago.
Some very big parachutes carry cars and heavy loads.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 How does it work?

When something falls from high up, the Earth pulls it down fast. But an open parachute is very wide, so it traps air underneath, and the air pushes it up, slowing the fall.

🔍 Different shapes

Some parachutes are round like a dome, and some are rectangular like a wing, which the parachutist can steer with cords to choose exactly where to land.

💡 Many uses

Parachutists use parachutes for sport and skydiving, and they're used to drop food and medicine to people in remote places and to slow spacecraft returning to Earth.

🎯 Try it yourself

Tie the four corners of a handkerchief with strings, tie the strings to a small toy, then drop it from a safe high place with a grown-up's help and watch how slowly it floats down.