Balloon Powered Car

Name: __________

Before building the car, answer the following questions:
Why do you think the car moves? Answer in one or two sentences.

What are the two conservation laws that explain the motion of the car?

What is potential energy?  What is kinetic energy?

What is momentum?

After constructing your car, use your best judgment to predict how far the car will go.  You will only need a ruler in addition to your car for this exercise.  Keep track of how many breaths you blow into the balloon and guess how far the car will travel. Enter that information below:

After building and testing the car, answer the following questions:
Does the distance the car travels increase/decrease when you fill the balloon with more air?

How does conservation of energy help explain this?

Is the car going faster at the beginning, middle or the end of its trajectory (path)?

How does the amount of air in the balloon affect the speed of the car?  How does conservation of momentum explain this?

What would you change to make the car go faster/farther?