Hovercraft Experiment

To learn about the underlying principles of a hovercraft in a useful way to understand Newton's laws and the

conservation of momentum, by using physical sciences and experimenting with the factors that determine the

speed and velocity of a hovercraft.

You will need:

Pop-top lid of recyclable bottle. An Old CD Hot glue gun Balloons of different sizes (capacity –

small, medium, large) Stopwatch Large flat surface

Step One:

Construct base of hovercraft by gluing the base of the pop-top lid over the middle of the CD. Be careful, to ensure that no air is able to escape from between the bottom

of the lid and the CD.

Step Two:

Blow up a balloon and pinch the neck so that no air can escape.

Step Three:

Stretch the neck of the balloon

over the pop-top.

Step Four:

Place the CD hovercraft onto the large flat surface (still pinching the balloon neck)

When you are ready – lift the pop-top open, and let go off pinched neck.

YOUR HOVERCRAFT

WORKS!

Did you achieve this?

Analyse Your Data:

Make your balloons different sizes.

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

RECORD WHAT YOU SEE.

1

2

3

4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

RESULTS OF HOVERCRAFT BALLOON TIME TRAIL

LARGE BALLOONMEDIUM BALLOONSMALL BALLOON

TIME IN SECONDS THAT HOVERCRAFT SHOWED MOMENTUM

PER

TR

IAL

EXPLAIN:

The speed and velocity of a hovercraft are dependent on the air pressure you can generate under the craft. Hovercrafts create an air-cushion under the body of the craft so it hovers or floats above the surface of the ground or water you are traveling over. This was evident as the larger volume of air in the larger balloon, allowed for the balloon to travel over the ground by generating enough air under the craft for momentum to be obvious.

The hovercraft increased speed and velocity, with the addition of the larger balloon air volume, cause air resistance between the CD and the smooth surface. Hovercrafts are by necessity light vehicles and are therefore affected by even modest breezes.

WHY?

First Law: Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

Second Law: The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors; in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.

Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

YOUR TURN!!!