Balloon Powered Race Cars

Balloon Powered Race Cars

Objectives – To create a balloon powered racecar for maximum speed and distance; and use the speed formula. V=d/t

Materials – 9-inch balloon is standard, straws, and various materials to construct the racers

Rules –

q  The car must be powered by no more than 2 balloons

q  You can build the car out of anything

q  It must have at least 3 wheels. Wheels are defined as anything that is round and goes around.

q  The wheels cannot be wheels from a toy car. They must be made of something that was not originally meant to be used as wheels

q  The car may not leave the ground

q  The car must be capable of traveling at least 5 meters.

Procedure –

q  You will bring materials from home to assemble your car in class

q  You must provide a preliminary sketch before assembling your car. This will include materials to be used and the general design of your car.

q  On race day a track area will be set up. This will be on Thursday.

q  Cars that follow all of the rules will be eligible for awards.

q  Winning cars will be displayed.

Awards –

q  Best design

q  Fastest car (in 5 meters)

q  Furthest distance traveled

Race Day Procedure – (THURSDAY)

1.  Using your RACE DAY SHEET provided, calculate 5 speed trials of your car. Calculate the distance your car travelled, while one partner records the time. Time will be recorded on GO and end when the car stops.

2.  Record all of your results and do an average of the 5 speed trials to find the average speed of your balloon-powered car.

3.  Answer your lab questions in full sentences.

Lab questions:

1.  Did your car work the first time? If not, what did you do to modify it? Explain how that worked.

2.  Was it difficult to calculate the average speed of your car? Why or why not?

3.  What factors influenced the speed trials?

4.  Did the factors that influenced your speed trials have a positive or negative effect on your average speed? Explain why?

5.  What tips or advice would you give someone who had to construct a balloon-powered car?

Conclusion:

By carefully constructing an “air powered go car” and measuring distance and time, I ______was able to calculate the average speed. I calculated the OVERALL average speed of my car to be ______.

Lab Evaluation Questionnaire:

I.  Was working with your partner a good experience? Why or why not?

II.  On a scale of 1-10, 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult, how easy was it for you to follow directions? Why did you choose that number?

III.  What did you like best about the lab? Be specific and tell why.

IV.  Which part did you find to be the most difficult? Be specific and tell why.

V.  Did you put your best effort into he lab? Why or why not? Give at least one specific example that explains your answer.

VI.  If you were able to repeat the lab, what would you do to improve it? Be as specific as you can and remember no experiment it ever perfect!

NAME: ______

RACE DAY WORKSHEET:

q  Be sure to include all units!