Parachutes

=History of Parachutes= Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the first parachute inverters (he was also an artist and painted the famous Mona Lisa, also invented a lot of flying devices). He created a pyramid shaped parachute but is was never tested or created in his life time. Later on a British parachutist successfully tested his invention. We owe a lot of the parachutes sciences to Leonardo's notes. Isaak Newton discovered a lot more about the forces and physics involved in parachute that Da Vinci did. We also owe a lot of parachute sciences to Newton.

=Parts of a Parachute= This parachute is a more modern day parachute, often used in para-gliding.

=Types of Parachutes=

Parasol type Though not strictly called parachutes, the parasols were commonly used by performers in China to create a slow falling effect onstage.

Conical parachute Possibly the earliest form of parachute is the conical shaped-parachute which appeared during 1470s in Italy designed and conceptualized by Leonardo da Vinci. As an escape device, this type of parachute was intended to allow people to get safely on the ground from burning buildings. However, there are no written records whether this parachute was ever used for that purpose.

Pyramid Parachute Another design by Leonardo da Vinci, this parachute was conceptualized in Milan during the early part of 1480. It was a canopy that is supported by light wood held by a square bottom frame.

Pack-style parachute This is the predecessor of all parachutes that are stored in casings these days.

Round parachutes A basic drag device, round parachute is used in various settings like medical missions, cargo applications and military operations. While being described commonly as round in shape, the parachute actually resembles a dome or a jellyfish. This has been among the most popular type. There are two types of round parachutes - steerable and non-steerable.

Square parachutes It is commonly used today by sport skydivers.

Ram-air parachutes For better control of speed and direction, ram-air parachutes allow the canopies to self-inflate

Ribbon/Ring Parachute Specifically designed for supersonic speeds where ordinary parachutes would break down, this type often has a hole in the middle of the canopy to lessen the pressure as the parachute reaches the ground.

These various types of parachutes are made according to the use they have and some are according to the technology the inventors had during their time.

**The Science involved**


You may ask yourself, how do parachutes work?  Its easy! It all thanks to forces (such as gravity). When a skydiver falls from a jet plane they will use a parachute to help them from preventing hurting themselves when they touch ground. One of the main ideas of parachutes it to slow down the skydiver. When the diver releases the parachute and they begins to slow down, gravity is pulling them towards the earth while air is forcing up against the parachute. It is called air resistance. The more you have the quicker you will slow down. For example the bigger the parachutes surface area the more air resistance, the more air molecules acting as a force again gravity. A smaller parachute would have as much resistance and a larger one would. Thats why there are many different sizes and shapes of parachutes, it depends on the situation you are in to the type of parachute required. 