Unraveling the vertical motion of Dipterocarpus alatus seed using Tracker

Abstract

We perform analytical and experimental investigation of the vertical motion of Dipterocarpus alatus seed, locally called Yang-na in Thailand. In this work, we assume the drag forces exerting on the Yang-na seeds depend only on the velocity. We derive equations of motion (EoMs) to physically parametrize the vertical motion of the seed and analytically solve to obtain the exact solutions. Interestingly, we observe that our predicted solutions are in agreement with the experimental data. More precisely, the entire trajectory of the falling seed of Yang-na can be described by our predicted solutions. We also determine terminal velocity of the seeds. Remarkably, this work reasonably proves that seed dispersal characteristics of Yang-na is inherently straight downward. Finally, we believe that our achievement will be valuable to the large community of STEM/STEAM education to promote an understanding in the topic integrating mathematics, physics, biology, art and technology. Our framework constitutes learning model to improve the ability of creative thinking, analytical thinking and problem solving skills on the concept of forces and motion applicable from high school to college levels.