Project Based Learning: Balloon Powered Car

With Marcus Lim

What I Know 🧠
• Momentum of the Escaping Air: As the air exits the balloon, it gains
momentum in the backward direction.
• Momentum of the Car: To conserve the total momentum of the
system (which was initially zero), the car must gain an equal
amount of momentum in the forward direction.
• The higher the pressure at which the air exits the straw, the
stronger the opposing force pushing the car forward.
What I Want to Know ⁉️

- Can the car be modelled to turn in a specific direction? And how?

- If there were to be a tripwire and the car tripped upon running over
it, would the car stop or would the car be lurched forward?

- Does the distance the car travel depend on the amount of air in the
balloon?
What I Learned ☝️🤓
- The car can indeed be modelled to turn in a specific direction by
making one of the wheels faster than the other. This can be done by
reducing the friction of the wheel by adding clear packing tape
around the wheel.

- The inertia of the car still wants to remain in motion. Therefore,

the car is lurched forward when tripping over a tripwire.

- Yes, when the balloon is inflated with more air, it has more mass of
air to expel. Therefore, it takes a longer time to completely expel the
air. Thus, the car travels further.
Problems
Solutions
- The wheels were
suspended from the
ground.
- The balloon was not
travelling.
-