How to Build the Best Hovercraft - Luke and Frank

Materials:
1. 4x4 piece of plywood
2. heavy duty shower curtain
3. duct tape
4. staple gun
5. leaf blower
6. sand paper (optional)
7. saw
8. box cutter
9. 5 small screws
10. screw driver
11. stiff piece of cardboard or whiteboard

Things That Went Well and Things That Didn't

Almost everything went well. The thing that did not work in our favor was when we stapled the curtain down in random places. It began to rip up the staples and put holes into the top. We fixed that by putting the staples over the tape. Everything else worked very well! We were the best and had the most sucessful hover craft in our class.

Physics Concepts Used:
1. Propulsion
2. Friction
3. Newton's Second and Third Law
4. Pressure
5. Resistance

Step 1:

Step 1 - Take the piece of plywood and evenly round off the corners with a saw

Step 2:

Step 2 - After the corners are all sawed off. sand down the corners so they do not rip the shower curtain.

Step 3:

Step 3 - Next, cut an opening the size of the end of the leaf blower (see diagram for placement)

Step 4:

Step 4 - Cover the bottom section of the plywood with the shower curtain and tape all the sides extremely well so no air can escape. Make sure to leave approximately a half inch of slack on each side, do not wrap it tightly. Do not cover the hole for the leaf blower.

Step 5:

Step 5 - Staple the top of the shower curtain to the plywood. Only staple over the area of the tape and the corners where the shower curtain folds over.

Step 6:

Step 6 - flip the board over so the bottom is facing up. Take a piece of whiteboard or stiff piece of cardboard and cut it into a circle with about a 5 inch diameter, this is the "wooden seal". Place the circle exactly in the middle of the board and screw it in.(see diagram for screw placement)

Step 7:

Step 7 - After the wooden seal is down, measure 4 holes with a 1 inch diameter, 9 inches from the center of the seal. (see diagram)These holes will allow air to escape and create propulsion