Balloon Powered Hovercraft

This week we take advantage of the power of polymers to make a hovercraft. The elasticity of polymers in a balloon can exert a force. Any time a balloon "flies away" when you let go of it, the polymer elasticity is responible for the dramatic speed of the flight. This week we have built a small hovercraft from wood to harness that polymer power for some summertime fun. The directions we used are given below.

You can do some experiments with this device once it is built. Essentially, by riding on a cushion of air the hovercraft doesn't experience any friction on the table top. Does the nature of the surface matter much for this effect? Build one, try it on a lot of surfaces and see what happens!

Directions:

Step 1: Cut out about a 3 inch circle from a piece of 3/8" plywood.

Step 2: At the center of the circle of wood, drill a 1/4" hole.

Step 3: Insert a 1/4" dowel pin snuggly into this hole so the bottom surface is as flat as possible. (The bottom of the dowel and the bottom of the wood circle are even.)

Step 4: With a drill press (or very steady hands) drill a 1/16" hole down the center of the dowel pin.

Step 5: Shellac or otherwise smooth and wax the bottom surface of the hovercraft.

Step 6: For most balloons, this small dowel will not fit well. Build up a connection point using a cork, a rubber stopper or the worlds best do-it-all substance - duct tape.

Step 7: Blow up a balloon, attach it to the dowel and have fun with science.

Interesting Links

CD-ROM version - of this activity

Activity page - where we first found this activity

Step 1: Cut out about a 3 inch circle from a piece of 3/8" plywood.
Step 2: At the center of the circle of wood, drill a 1/4" hole.
Step 3: Insert a 1/4" dowel pin snuggly into this hole so the bottom surface is as flat as possible. (The bottom of the dowel and the bottom of the wood circle are even.)
Step 4: With a drill press (or very steady hands) drill a 1/16" hole down the center of the dowel pin.
Step 5: Shellac or otherwise smooth and wax the bottom surface of the hovercraft.
Step 6: For most balloons, this small dowel will not fit well. Build up a connection point using a cork, a rubber stopper or the worlds best do-it-all substance - duct tape.
Step 7: Blow up a balloon, attach it to the dowel and have fun with science.