Sizing a Dragster Parachute

by Sarah Lawrence

Submitted : Spring 2013

The purpose of this project was to determine the diameter of a parachute for a dragster. The requirements were that the dragster came to a stop in a specified distance, which could not be accomplished with the deceleration that the brakes provided. The first step in solving this problem was to find the deceleration that the brakes provided by themselves. Second, it was necessary to find the drag coefficient, D, of the parachute in order to discover what the diameter would need to be. This step was more difficult because it required a complex integration from a derived formula. Finally, using the formula given for the drag coefficient (4), it was possible to find the smallest diameter of the parachute necessary to bring the dragster to a stop in the given distance.

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