Mini Hovercraft

INTRODUCTION- The purpose of the Mini-Hovercraft is to get the Balloon to slide on a flat surface. The Mini-Hovercraft is an imitation of a full sized Hovercraft, but obviously smaller. This is an easy to make project, which you can play with.

MATERIALS-

• • CD

  • Bottle cap

  • Scissors

  • Super Glue

  • Balloons

  • Flat Surface

PROCEDURE-

1.You blow your balloon.

2.You get you CD after you have glued the bottle top and it has dried.

3.Then you twist the bottom part of your Balloon to secure the air.

4. You put the bottom part of your balloon on the bottle top

5.Finally you put the CD on a flat surface, let the balloon go and it should slide.

SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLE- WHAT IS THE PHYSICS BEHIND IT?

• • In the mini-hovercraft air pressure plays a huge role, along with the bottle cap. As the balloon continues to release air inside, air pressure inside the CD builds up and when under pressure , the molecules try to spread out. However, the bottle cap prevents that from happening so the en result is the air bursting out of the hole in the CD. If the air pressure inside the bottle cap is released so the mini-hovercraft is caused to slide through the surface. Friction is also involved in this experiment , since the resistance to sliding motion between two surfaces that come into contact with each other. In our case with the mini-hovercraft, there needs to be as little friction as possible between the CD and the flat surface to allow the mini-hovercraft to slide faster. As the air is being released it is stuck between the CD and the flat surface this makes the friction between these two items less, and if you give it a push it slides.

SAFETY REGULATIONS-

• • Caution when gluing the bottle top if you do with silicon

  • The balloon may pop as you blow it

  • Sometimes the balloon comes off the bottle top