My PBL Project Hovercraft

How does a hovercraft hover?

Introduction:

A hovercraft is a vehicle that glides over a smooth surface by hovering upon an air cushion. Because of this, a hovercraft is also called an Air-Cushion Vehicle, or ACV.

The hovercraft creates vents or currents of slow-moving, low-pressure air that are pushed downward against the surface below the hovercraft.

Materials:

3 blowers (1 for floating and the other two for steering) , one or two batteries (you may charge one of them while you are riding with the other), a circular platform, lightweight chair.

Procedure:

First to built our hovercraft we had a circular platform with some special cloth under the platform to get less friction, we had a blower, a lightweight chair and a tube the we used to connected to the platform. Then we took the blower and put it inside the tube so that the air that the blower would create would come out from there. After that we put the chair on top of the hovercraft sit down on it and turn on the blower. From that the hovercraft started to float and so I began to ride it.

Scientific Principle:

Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. The pressure difference between the higher pressure air below the hull and lower pressure ambient air above it produces lift, which causes the hull to float above the running surface. For stability reasons, the air is typically blown through slots or holes around the outside of a disk or oval shaped platform, giving most hovercraft a characteristic rounded-rectangle shape. Typically this cushion is contained within a flexible "skirt", which allows the vehicle to travel over small obstructions without damage.

How does the air cushion beneath the hovercraft allow the vehicle to glide to freely? The key to the ease of movement is reducing friction. A simple way to think of friction is to think about how things rub together. It is easier to rollerblade on a smooth sidewalk than a gravel path because the sidewalk has less friction. The wheels of the rollerblade do not rub as much against the sidewalk as they do all the pieces of gravel on the path. Similarly, the air cushion beneath the hovercraft greatly reduces the friction of the vehicle, allowing it to glide freely upon the land or water below.

Safety:

Remain seated at all times so that you don't fall off the platform.