Name: _________________________________________________ Block: ___________ Date: ________________

Mr. Almeida – Conceptual Physics

Project: Balloon-Powered Car

GOAL: Each team will design and build a “car” that is solely powered by a balloon.

MATERIALS: Any common materials found at home or in a hardware store. The sole source of propulsion must be the air

escaping from a balloon. The balloon will be provided by the teacher. The “major” structure of the “car” cannot

be made out of Legos, Construx, Tinker Toys, or other commercially available building kits.

RULES: Build a car that travels 4 meters in the shortest time possible in a relatively straight line.

• The car must have wheels that always make contact with the floor.

• The track will be a 4 meter length of the hallway outside the classroom.

• Scoring will start at 100 points.

• One point will be lost for each second of travel and one point will be lost for each 10 cm short of the finish line.

Time will be measured from the moment the car crosses the starting line to the moment it crosses the finish line

or stops moving if it does not make it to the finish line.

• 10 points will be lost if the car hits either wall of the hallway.

• Each trial after the first trial will have an additional 5 points subtracted from the score, i.e. -10 points for the third

trial. You may not rebuild or redesign your car between trials.

BALLOON CAR POSTER

Your poster should include the following:

1. Scale drawings of your balloon car. The diagrams must be drawn neatly and include the following:

a. Multiple views so that someone could construct your car from the diagrams

b. Labels of all parts of the car.

c. Dimensions of all parts and the entire car (measured in centimeters)

2. An explanation of the workings of the car in terms of Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. For each law your poster should

include the following:

a. A statement of each of the laws.

b. Specific examples of how your car utilizes each of the laws in the car’s designs.

c. Describe how specific parts of your car help to utilize each of the three laws.

3. An explanation of designs that did not work.

a. What was the design?

b. Why did the design not work?

c. What did you change to improve the performance of the car?

4. Concepts and key words to think about that should probably be discussed in your poster. Using words appropriately will

add to your grade for parts 2 and 3.

a. the force that powers the car and other forces that affect the car

b. mass

c. acceleration

d. air resistance and drag

e. friction

f. stability

5. The performance of your car

a. How far did the car go?

b. How long did it take?

c. Your score

6. Be creative and neat!

DUE DATE: _______________ GOOD LUCK!