Balloon Powered Car
Balloon powered car
1 How does the balloon car demonstrate that energy is transformed from potential energy to kinetic energy? Explain
When the balloon has air inside it, the car and the balloon have potential energy stored inside it. When the air is released the car moves forward and has kinetic energy.
2 Where is most of the energy 'lost' in this car?
There is a number of different possible reasons that energy could have been lost in our car: some of the air in the balloon may have escaped through the gaps between the balloon and the straws, this might have slowed down the car by a fraction. The friction from the wheels may have resulted in loss of energy. The aerodynamics of the car could have altered the speed, but in this experiment I don’t think this would have mattered that much judging by the speed and the scale of the car. I think the most amount of energy would have been lost in the wheel alignment this is because, if the wheels were not aligned properly the car would not have a smooth ride there for loosing energy.
3 Why is the word lost been placed in inverted commas above?
The word lost had been placed in inverted commas because, energy is technically not lost it is transferred for example, a flame transfers its energy into heat and light then that heat and light is transferred into the atmosphere. We want the energy in the balloon to move the car as far forward as possible so we consider the energy been lost in friction, air resistance etc.
4 Briefly explain how this experiment can be applied to energy efficiency in normal cars.
The balloon cars can be applied to energy efficiency in real cars is because it shows the effects of friction, aerodynamics, weight distribution, speed to weight ratio and many more.
5 Discussion
Our car design was to be something like the diagram above we spent a lot of time planning our car out so that it could perform its best. We designed the car into a 2D cut out template then we would fold it together to make
1 How does the balloon car demonstrate that energy is transformed from potential energy to kinetic energy? Explain
When the balloon has air inside it, the car and the balloon have potential energy stored inside it. When the air is released the car moves forward and has kinetic energy.
2 Where is most of the energy 'lost' in this car?
There is a number of different possible reasons that energy could have been lost in our car: some of the air in the balloon may have escaped through the gaps between the balloon and the straws, this might have slowed down the car by a fraction. The friction from the wheels may have resulted in loss of energy. The aerodynamics of the car could have altered the speed, but in this experiment I don’t think this would have mattered that much judging by the speed and the scale of the car. I think the most amount of energy would have been lost in the wheel alignment this is because, if the wheels were not aligned properly the car would not have a smooth ride there for loosing energy.
3 Why is the word lost been placed in inverted commas above?
The word lost had been placed in inverted commas because, energy is technically not lost it is transferred for example, a flame transfers its energy into heat and light then that heat and light is transferred into the atmosphere. We want the energy in the balloon to move the car as far forward as possible so we consider the energy been lost in friction, air resistance etc.
4 Briefly explain how this experiment can be applied to energy efficiency in normal cars.
The balloon cars can be applied to energy efficiency in real cars is because it shows the effects of friction, aerodynamics, weight distribution, speed to weight ratio and many more.
5 Discussion
Our car design was to be something like the diagram above we spent a lot of time planning our car out so that it could perform its best. We designed the car into a 2D cut out template then we would fold it together to make