Paper popper

A paper popper is a party prank that is commonly practiced in public schools. There a many variations of a paper popper, but they all involve a folded sheet of paper being gripped and thrusted down, causing air to be forced into the papers folded flaps, making the paper flaps pop out in the opposite direction at a high velocity, thus making a loud popping noise. According to popular misconception the sound is supposed to be caused by the paper breaking the sound barrier. What actually happens is that air rushings in a blast wave to fill the vacuum created in the pocket that opens. The sound is described as the crack of a whip, which is an example of breaking the sound barrier, although the causes are different. Most papers work for poppers and some are loud and some are louder when you pop it harder.

ee also

* Origami
* Mathematics of paper folding
* Paper plane

External links

Variations of Poppers

* [http://www.noiseguy.com/paperpopper.html Traditional Popper]
* [http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/16556.xml&catref=cat150007 Party Popper]
* [http://scied.unl.edu/pages/sciencedemos/paper%20popper/paper%20popper.htm Triangle Popper]