Unsuccessful Ideas
At the beginning of building our balloon car we had many ideas. One idea was that we glue CDs to the paper towel rolls and then the cardboard to the paper towel rolls. We soon discovered that this idea had no chance of succeeding because it created too much friction. Friction is the force that one surface exerts on another when two rub against each other. Another idea was that we should put paper cups around the paper towel rolls and then glue the cups to the cardboard. This idea did fail again because there was too much friction. We had another idea that also didn't work which was to cut the paper towel rolls in half so the mass would decrease. This idea did not work because of the base of the car was too close to the wheels and therefore the two objects created friction as the car traveled.
Successful Ideas
There were many ideas that did work in our final version of our car. One of them being that we placed wooden skewers inside of straws; it increased momentum a tremendous amount. Momentum is the object that is the product of its mass and velocity. Another good idea was that we had to glue the wooden skewers that which decreased the amount of friction. We also discovered that we had to use something light so we used a lights piece of cardboard to decrease mass which is the amount of matter in an object,
Most Valuable
I think the most valuable part of this learning experience was to really understand the different parts of science. It was very cool to understand how momentum, friction, and Newton's Laws really come into play, even in the little things like balloon cars. It was easier to understand how friction and momentum can be an advantage and disadvantage during the balloon car project. Also when doing this project I found out how Newton's law work, and how to understand them differently than I did before. I was able to really breakdown each of Newton's Laws and understand how each part of the law worked. The most valuable part of this learning experience for me was to understand the different parts of science, and how momentum, friction and Newton's Laws work.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Analysis
Newton's First Law
According to Newton's first law of motion an object at rest will stay at rest and an object that is moving at a constant velocity will continue moving at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This law of motion relates right to the balloon car project. A balloon car will stay moving at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. An example of an unbalanced force in our project would be the lockers in the hallway. Our car did hit the lockers which did cause its velocity to change. According to Newton's first law of motion our balloon car will continue traveling unless acted on by an unbalanced force.
Newton's Second Law
Newton's second law of motion states that the net force on an object is equal to the product of its acceleration and its mass. In other words force equals mass times acceleration. Mass and acceleration are inversely proportional. If we increased the mass in our balloon car the acceleration would then decrease. Looking back on Newton's second law of motion our balloon car's acceleration will be determined on the mass of the car.
Momentum
When the balloon continued to run out of air the car still continued to move. This is because of momentum. The object is the product of its mass and velocity is momentum. In other words momentum equals mass times velocity. As the car moves it builds momentum and when the balloon runs out of air the velocity has increased but the mass has still stayed the same. So therefore the car continues to move because of its momentum.
Action and Reaction
Newton's Third Law states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, this law is very true when testing our balloon car. For example, the balloon on top of the balloon car would be object one and the car itself would be object two. When you release the air from object one, or the balloon, the air from that balloon then travels backwards, which makes object two the car go forwards. The air from the balloon pushes out backwards, and this creates the reaction to happen which is the balloon accelerates forwards, because for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. Another of Newton's Laws relates to this situation, which is Newton's First Law of Motion. Newton's First Law states that things at rest will remain at rest and things in motion will remain at motion unless acted upon by an outside force. In this case of the balloon trial the balloon car will be the object at rest. In the beginning before the trial even begins you place the car down on the ground, this car or object is at rest so it will remain at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force. Once you are ready to release your balloon car, you release the air out of the balloon, the car is no longer at rest because it is acted upon by an outside object, known as air. So in the balloon car trial, a balloon car will remain at rest until an outside force, or the air being released out of the balloon makes the balloon acts upon the object to make it accelerate. Newton's Third Law of motion is a key point, in the testing of balloon cars.
Three Types of Friction
There are three different types of friction related to the design of the balloon car. The three different types of friction that are related to the balloon car are sliding friction, rolling friction, and liquid friction. Sliding friction is when solid surfaces slide over each other. For example, on the balloon car design that Maddy and I used we had straws over our skewers, and these skewers were attached to our wheels. The sliding friction in our balloon car design was when the car was accelerating the straws would slide back and forth over the skewers. The sliding friction helped to start the car's acceleration, and keep the car accelerated, but it also helped to keep the car moving the last inches when the car reached the stopping point. Rolling friction is when an object rolls over a surface. In this case the balloon car is the object and the surface is the ground that it's traveling on. The rolling friction helps the car accelerate by rolling across the surface which is the ground for a far distance, and then the car will roll little by little when it reaches its final destination point. The last type of friction involved in the design of the balloon car is liquid friction. Liquid friction is friction that occurs when an object moves through a liquid or a gas. The object in this situation in the balloon and the car itself, and the liquid or gas is the air that it's traveling through. The liquid makes it easier for the balloon to travel and accelerate through, but sometimes if the liquid is forcing the car in the opposite direction it can slow down the car, and cause the car to decelerate, or come to a stop. The three types of friction that are related to the balloon car design are sliding friction, rolling friction, and liquid friction.
According to Newton's first law of motion an object at rest will stay at rest and an object that is moving at a constant velocity will continue moving at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This law of motion relates right to the balloon car project. A balloon car will stay moving at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. An example of an unbalanced force in our project would be the lockers in the hallway. Our car did hit the lockers which did cause its velocity to change. According to Newton's first law of motion our balloon car will continue traveling unless acted on by an unbalanced force.
Newton's Second Law
Newton's second law of motion states that the net force on an object is equal to the product of its acceleration and its mass. In other words force equals mass times acceleration. Mass and acceleration are inversely proportional. If we increased the mass in our balloon car the acceleration would then decrease. Looking back on Newton's second law of motion our balloon car's acceleration will be determined on the mass of the car.
Momentum
When the balloon continued to run out of air the car still continued to move. This is because of momentum. The object is the product of its mass and velocity is momentum. In other words momentum equals mass times velocity. As the car moves it builds momentum and when the balloon runs out of air the velocity has increased but the mass has still stayed the same. So therefore the car continues to move because of its momentum.
Action and Reaction
Newton's Third Law states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, this law is very true when testing our balloon car. For example, the balloon on top of the balloon car would be object one and the car itself would be object two. When you release the air from object one, or the balloon, the air from that balloon then travels backwards, which makes object two the car go forwards. The air from the balloon pushes out backwards, and this creates the reaction to happen which is the balloon accelerates forwards, because for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. Another of Newton's Laws relates to this situation, which is Newton's First Law of Motion. Newton's First Law states that things at rest will remain at rest and things in motion will remain at motion unless acted upon by an outside force. In this case of the balloon trial the balloon car will be the object at rest. In the beginning before the trial even begins you place the car down on the ground, this car or object is at rest so it will remain at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force. Once you are ready to release your balloon car, you release the air out of the balloon, the car is no longer at rest because it is acted upon by an outside object, known as air. So in the balloon car trial, a balloon car will remain at rest until an outside force, or the air being released out of the balloon makes the balloon acts upon the object to make it accelerate. Newton's Third Law of motion is a key point, in the testing of balloon cars.
Three Types of Friction
There are three different types of friction related to the design of the balloon car. The three different types of friction that are related to the balloon car are sliding friction, rolling friction, and liquid friction. Sliding friction is when solid surfaces slide over each other. For example, on the balloon car design that Maddy and I used we had straws over our skewers, and these skewers were attached to our wheels. The sliding friction in our balloon car design was when the car was accelerating the straws would slide back and forth over the skewers. The sliding friction helped to start the car's acceleration, and keep the car accelerated, but it also helped to keep the car moving the last inches when the car reached the stopping point. Rolling friction is when an object rolls over a surface. In this case the balloon car is the object and the surface is the ground that it's traveling on. The rolling friction helps the car accelerate by rolling across the surface which is the ground for a far distance, and then the car will roll little by little when it reaches its final destination point. The last type of friction involved in the design of the balloon car is liquid friction. Liquid friction is friction that occurs when an object moves through a liquid or a gas. The object in this situation in the balloon and the car itself, and the liquid or gas is the air that it's traveling through. The liquid makes it easier for the balloon to travel and accelerate through, but sometimes if the liquid is forcing the car in the opposite direction it can slow down the car, and cause the car to decelerate, or come to a stop. The three types of friction that are related to the balloon car design are sliding friction, rolling friction, and liquid friction.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Trials
December 5, 2011
On our first trial our balloon car traveled 11.8 meters. It came to a stop by slowing down and then the car it some lockers on the right side of the hallway. With our balloon car traveling that far we earned the highest distance traveled in our class. We were both pleased with the our result on this day.
December 6, 2011
On our second trial our car only traveled 1.6 meters. It barely left the starting point and it stopped because the balloon lost all of its air. We came to the conclusion that there was probably something wrong with our balloon. We think that it was either stretched out too much or it had a hole in it. We don't think that it was the actual car because we just did a trial with it right before we did the official trial and it traveled like it did on the 5th.
On our first trial our balloon car traveled 11.8 meters. It came to a stop by slowing down and then the car it some lockers on the right side of the hallway. With our balloon car traveling that far we earned the highest distance traveled in our class. We were both pleased with the our result on this day.
On our second trial our car only traveled 1.6 meters. It barely left the starting point and it stopped because the balloon lost all of its air. We came to the conclusion that there was probably something wrong with our balloon. We think that it was either stretched out too much or it had a hole in it. We don't think that it was the actual car because we just did a trial with it right before we did the official trial and it traveled like it did on the 5th.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Design Process
Entry #1
We first started building our balloon car in class on the Tuesday, November 29, 2011. We started out with one idea for our car and we continued with that. The first car's materials contained 4 CD's, paper cups, hot glue, cardboard, and 2 paper towel rolls. The CD's served as the wheels for the car and with hot glue the paper towel rolls were glued onto them. There were 2 paper cubs glued together and placed in the middle of each paper towel roll. Glued onto the paper cups was a piece of cardboard which served as the base to the car.
Entry #2
We then discovered that the car only travels one foot so we threw our first design out and started to build a new one the Friday, December 4, 2011. This design is quite successful compared to the first one. The materials in this car contain wooden skewers, straws, Cd's, Styrofoam, and cardboard. The design process is the wooded skewers in straws so that the skewers would be the wheels and the straws would make the wheels spin. Styrofoam and cardboard were glued to each wheel to insure that the wheel would spin properly without the skewer falling out. The straws were glued to the cardboard so the wheels can spin. The balloon is placed on tip used scotch tape, and once the balloon car is ready to be released the balloon is opened and the car begins. We didn't make any expenses for our balloon car because we had all of the materials in our houses. Mr. Kozsan, Kaitlyn's dad helped us design the second car.
We first started building our balloon car in class on the Tuesday, November 29, 2011. We started out with one idea for our car and we continued with that. The first car's materials contained 4 CD's, paper cups, hot glue, cardboard, and 2 paper towel rolls. The CD's served as the wheels for the car and with hot glue the paper towel rolls were glued onto them. There were 2 paper cubs glued together and placed in the middle of each paper towel roll. Glued onto the paper cups was a piece of cardboard which served as the base to the car.
We then discovered that the car only travels one foot so we threw our first design out and started to build a new one the Friday, December 4, 2011. This design is quite successful compared to the first one. The materials in this car contain wooden skewers, straws, Cd's, Styrofoam, and cardboard. The design process is the wooded skewers in straws so that the skewers would be the wheels and the straws would make the wheels spin. Styrofoam and cardboard were glued to each wheel to insure that the wheel would spin properly without the skewer falling out. The straws were glued to the cardboard so the wheels can spin. The balloon is placed on tip used scotch tape, and once the balloon car is ready to be released the balloon is opened and the car begins. We didn't make any expenses for our balloon car because we had all of the materials in our houses. Mr. Kozsan, Kaitlyn's dad helped us design the second car.
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