What is the best design for a balloon powered car?
Your design will be most efficient if the straw is pointed straight back and not downward or to the side. The more you inflate the balloon the more potential energy it stores, which in turn is converted to more kinetic energy, according to the law of conservation of energy—so the car will go faster.
How do you make a balloon powered race car?
Punch a hole in the tops of 4 bottle caps to act as the wheels and slide them onto the wooden sticks. Next, tuck a straw into the mouth of a balloon and tape it in place securely, then tape the straw to the top of the car. Blow some air into the balloon and set the car on the ground so it can roll!
What is the fastest balloon car?
The Winners
| Award Category | Driver Name | Winning Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest | Dean/Debbie Oisboid | >10 feet per second |
| Largest | Mike Blakely | 72 inches long |
| Smallest | Kim Aaron | 5.5 inches long |
| Heaviest | Suzanne Balzer | 3700 grams |
What are some common materials and designs used to build balloon cars?
Materials
- Plastic bottles.
- Plastic bottle caps (4)
- Flexible straws (3)
- Wooden skewers (2)
- Balloon.
- Rubber band.
- Tape.
- Hobby knife.
What can I use as wheels for a balloon powered car?
Make Your Own 4-Wheel Balloon Car
- Jet: Balloon. Flexible straw. Rubber band or tape.
- Body (Select one): Water bottle. Toilet-paper tube.
- Axles (Select one): Straws. Barbeque skewers.
- Wheels (Select one): Bottle caps. Candy mints (with a hole in the middle)
- Connector for attaching wheels to an axle (Select one): Dry sponge. Foam.
What can I use for wheels on a balloon car?
How do balloon powered cars work?
Balloons are elastic and store potential energy when they are filled with air. When the air is released, the potential energy is converted into the energy of motion, which is also known as kinetic energy. This is the energy you see when the car is propelled forward.
How do you make a rubber band car go farther?
Turn the axle several times. You’ve given the rubber band potential (stored) energy. When it unwinds, this potential energy is transformed into kinetic (motion) energy, and the axle spins. The more you wind the rubber band, the more energy is available for your car’s wheels—and the farther and faster your car goes.
What is the science behind balloon powered cars?
Can you design a car powered by a balloon?
The engineering goal in this project will be to design, build, and test a car that is powered by nothing but a balloon. You want to design your car so it can travel as far as possible. For the ultimate test, you can follow a strict set of design rules used in the Fluor Engineering Challenge (see the Procedure for details). What is potential energy?
What are the parts of a Balloon car?
A balloon-powered car consists of three main parts: The body of the car (piece of cardboard or plastic bottle in Figure 1) The wheels of the car (CDs or plastic bottle caps in Figure 1) The axles, which connect the wheels to the body, and allow the wheels to spin (wooden skewers in Figure 1)
What is a balloon-powered car?
A balloon-powered car is pushed forward by air escaping from a balloon, and it is fun and easy to build with materials you already have around your house. Can you imagine how you would want your own balloon-powered car to look?
How do you inflate a balloon for a car?
Many balloon-powered car designs attach the neck of the balloon to a “bendy” straw using a rubber band, as shown in Figure 5. This makes it easier to attach the balloon to your car, to inflate the balloon, and to aim the direction of the air escaping the balloon.