Newton's Balloon Car Laws

Sir Isaac Newton once said “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.” This means that there is so much waiting to be uncovered. With the knowledge that there is more to the world than what meets the eye, Newton went on to discover the laws of motion. Newton’s first law of motion is commonly referred to as the law of inertia. Newton’s second law of motion has to do with acceleration. Newton’s third law of motion explains the forces involved when two objects interact. These three laws of motion apply to the balloon racer that I created. They clarify why and how the racer works in the first place. All in all, all of Newton’s laws of motion relate to my balloon racer. Newton’s first law of motion states that, unless acted on by an unbalanced force, an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion at a constant velocity. The balloon car would have stayed still, or at rest, if there was no unbalanced force acting on it. This is due to inertia, or the tendency of objects to resist any change in motion. However, the force of the air shooting
Forces come in pairs, called action and reaction forces. This applies to my balloon powered car in multiple ways. The air forcing its way out of the balloon applies a force on the surrounding air, and the air surrounding the racer provides an equal and opposite force. As a result, my racer is able to push off of the air and travel forwards. Another way this law can be applied to my balloon powered racer has to do with the wheels. The wheels of the car grip the surface they are traveling on and push it backwards. In turn, the floor pushes the wheels forwards with equal force. This explains how the balloon racer is able to move. Newton’s third law of motion provides an understanding as to how the balloon is able to propel the racer and how the wheels are able to spin to move the racer