Film Can Projectiles

Let's face it. Making things fly across the room is fun in any kid's book. The "flashy" demonstration we did in the spot on TV was found at a site called "Science Toys you can Make with your Kids". They call it the film can cannon. They even have a kit you can buy that looks more like a cannon than a block of wood.

You can get to the page with directions for the model we used on TV by clicking here.

How it works.

The ignitor is taken from a charcoal starter. It is made out of a material that is called a piezoelectric material, it changes its electrical properties based on its shape. When you push down on the button, the material is changes slightly and that is used to create a spark. In our case we use wires to have that spark occur inside the film can.

We also need a fuel to make this reaction go. There are different things you could use. We used Binaca, because it contains a relatively high concentration of alcohol which is a good fuel. Hair spray is another good fuel. It is NOT a good idea to use something like gasoline as your fuel as gasoline is much more dangerous (because it has a lower flash point).

The film can leaves with a considerable velocity and will generally hit the ceiling, even in a room with 20 foot ceilings. If you do make this toy, be sure to be aware of the surroundings - particularly the ceiling - before you set it off. Of course you don't want to aim it at anybody either. This is not an activity for unsupervised children.