The Balloon Car Experiment

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In the Balloon Car experiment, we made a toy car that was powered by a balloon. We filled a balloon with thirty pumps of air, and attached it on the car in a way so that the only way the air could be released is through a straw. We acquired three different types of straws that each had different sized holes, and observed the changes in speed that happened because of the difference in diameters. We recorded the data by measuring distances on the floor to make a track, and ran the cars along the track while timing how long it took. We found the average time the car with each type of straw took to go the distances of 25 centimeters, 50 centimeters, and 75 centimeters. In the experiment, the straw with the largest diameter made the car go the fastest, while the straw with the smallest diameter made the car go the slowest. Also, the car always sped up towards the end of the track, no matter what the size of the straw was. From the data, we learned that if an object can reach a faster speed quickly, it will go faster than an object with a constant acceleration. The Balloon Car experiment was meant to observe how the speed of an object would change if the object’s rate of acceleration changed. In the lab, we made a balloon powered toy car, and changed its acceleration rate by changing the diameter of the straw that was …show more content…

We solved the first problem by pumping both balloons up thirty times with a pump. We solved the second problem by making sure the straw was attached in the middle of the car, and was straight. If I had to do this experiment again, I would have used wood for the base of the car, not styrofoam. Styrofoam was not sturdy enough, and it was hard to attach some things like the wheels to it. I learned many things while doing this project, and would recommend it to

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