Balloon Car

-- 7/24/11 update --

Never expected this video to have more than a few hits. Because this video is terrible, please read for a few seconds on how to make a good balloon powered car.

You have to strike a fine balance between being too light and being too heavy. If it's too light, then there will be no momentum (p=m*v) for the car to continue moving after the balloon fully deflates. Also, a light car may not produce reliable results. (This is no different than how a crummy bottle rocket travels sporadically, whereas a NASA space shuttle behaves much more predictably.) However, if the vehicle is too heavy, then obviously the car will not be able to move at all.

In my case, I kept it very simple. Knowing that the balloon would travel forward, I made a cage that would entrap the balloon as it deflated. In turn, this propels the car without the need to attach it. You can create an assortment of different designs, but I found that using K'nex was the easiest way to make an adaptable design. The ability to be flexible with your endeavors is key!

You might be able to use Legos, as they might be more popular than K'nex. I'm not sure if they have wheels large enough to support a normal balloon car, but you could always rig up your own axle system. Try experimenting with different wheel sizes. More primitive building materials include cardboard, Styrofoam, balsa wood, and straws for the axles.

Hopefully this gave you a few tidbits to digest. Sound off in the comments if you have any questions or comments. Good luck in designing your own balloon car!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• balloon
• powered
• driven
• car
• cart
• physics
• project
• air
• wind
• momentum
• inertia
• not
• attached
• autonomous
• vehicle
• k'nex
• lego
• bricks
• mike
• furst
• pineconn
• production
• missiles

[dme135]

Look at my video it goes about 2x the speed at least

[Pineconn]

@dme135 Congratulations. You are superior to me at everything, including willpower, life, and knitting. I would die to be the shoes that protect your sacred feet.

[MzCarrie4Ever]

LOL that was kinda cool, im doing this for my sciece class too!

[ktwoodwcf]

Please post on Teachertube

[Badgerboy486]

Cool. I didn't know our school had Honors Physics. I'm Mike's bro by the way in case you didn't know :P