Behavior of a falling paper in a two-dimensional fluid is investigated by introducing a simple phenomenological model including the lift and friction terms. Five falling patterns are discovered with the increase of friction coefficients: periodic rotation, chaotic rotation, chaotic fluttering, periodic fluttering, and simple perpendicular fall. Irregular motions of the fall are explained in terms of low-dimensional chaos.

• Received 29 March 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.73.1372