Sunday, March 8, 2009

Rocket Car


This is my balloon rocket car. The chassis is made out of a water bottle. I chose the water bottle because it's a cylinder. Therefore making the rocket car more aerodynamic.
The engine of my car is a balloon. It's purpose is to make the rocket car travel five meters in the least time possible. The balloon's air power makes the rocket car travel a decent distance.
What allows the airflow from the balloon to the rear end of my rocket car is the exhaust pipe. This pipe is made out of four straws taped together. The pipe allows the air to escape from the rear towards the surface where traveling on. Therefore making the car move forward.
The wheels of my rocket car are made out of water bottle caps. Their purpose is to make the car travel smoothly on the desired track. I chose the bottle caps because they are round and easy to pierce through.
The two items that allow the constant rotation of the wheels while in motion are called the axles. The axles are made of one straw cut in half and two kebab sticks. This type of axle is easy to make and simple to place on the rocket car. The axles in every car are a very important part because they are a main purpose of it's speed.

Essential Items:
  • Four bottle caps
  • A straw
  • A water bottle
  • Two kebab sticks
  • Tape
  • Scissors
  • A balloon
What happened?
After I inflated the balloon I placed the car on the floor. With one hand holding the balloon and the other with crossed fingers, I let go of the balloon. The car traveled a distance of 4.76 meters in a time of 7 seconds. Therefore its average speed was 0.7 m/s. It did not pass the 5 meter line therefore failing to complete the run. I think that the axles were not formed properly and the balloon was too big therefore making the car turn on itself and slowing it down.

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