Balloon Car Lab Report

726 Words2 Pages

Purpose/problem :
The purpose of this experiment was to help students grasp two main ideas. One problem was that we were trying to investigate which forces caused specific types of accelerations and velocities. The second purpose was to learn how to determine acceleration from experimental data. This experiment helped me and my partner figure out and better understand these questions.

Introduction :
Before starting this experiment, I knew many key ideas that played a part in the building of the balloon car. In this experiment, you would need to know what force, acceleration, and velocity is. Force is an interaction between two objects that results in a push or pull. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. Lastly, velocity is the …show more content…

I figured that the lighter I made the balloon car, the faster the velocity would be. So following this idea, I thought mostly light materials should be used for this experiment. I began by trimming two straws and stuck them to the bottom of the car base. The car base was a pink foam rectangle. After I taped the straws onto the bottom, and threaded a wooden skewer through each one. Then i cut out four cardboard wheels and sanded the edges of them. I then placed one on each end of the skewer and taped it down. This way, the wheels can roll and help the car go faster. I attached the balloon to a straw and sealed the mouth piece with tape. This helped me inflate the balloon and also created a shoot for the carbon dioxide from the balloon so the car could propel forward. I taped this part onto the car and then I tested it with my lab partner. It worked pretty …show more content…

Also, to learn how to determine acceleration from experimental data. In this experiment, we built air balloon powered cars and measured how long they could roll and how fast they accelerated. We had to include many factors while building our cars. For example, air resistance, force, and friction. I designed my car using the idea that the lighter and smaller the car, the farther and faster it will go. My partner and I used many tests to see if the design worked. To test if the wheels work, we rolled it across the table and the car moved fast and rolled far. This meant the wheels were working. Once we got the balloon on, we tested it multiple times to see if it would reach the two meter mark. Our car in the class test was ok. Our time was fast and the car accelerated quickly. It gained speed at the end. Our distance was not too far past the 2 meter line. Our velocity also was not the fastest. If I did this lab over, I would have made the body of the car smaller because it would have made the car’s velocity go faster. Also, I should have used CDs for wheels instead of cardboard because then the car would have rolled faster. An error in this lab was that our car’s wheels were not in place so they slid around in the straw socket. This made the wheels catch on the side of the car and made the car slow

Open Document