Introduction: Super Easy Hovercraft

Hovercrafts are very easy to make and they can be constructed with several household items.They are not very time consuming and are overall fun!

Step 1: Materials List

-4'x4' piece of plywood
-2 fender washers
-a 2 inch bolt 14/20
-a nut 1/4-20
-heavy plastic sheet/tarp
-small plastic disk
-hole saw
-drill
-wrench
-sandpaper(optional)
-jig saw
-leaf blower
-staple gun
-razor knife
-smooth surface
-duct tape
-razor knife or scissors

Step 2: Shape the Wood/drill Holes

-using a jig saw cut the wood into your desired shape,a circle or a square with rounded off corners works best, you don't want to keep the sharp edges because they can pose a safety hazard

-find the exact center of the wood and then drill a 5/16 inch hole

-make a hole that will be big enough for the leaf blower nozzle to fit, this hole should be located halfway between the center and the edge to do so use a hole saw

Step 3: Attach the Plastic Sheet/tarp

-place your wood in the center of the plastic/sheet tarp you are using and fold over the edges

-staple the tarp to the wood placing a staple every 4 inches and make sure the tarp is tight but not too tight because then when you try it out it will tear

-to reinforce the tarp duct tape the egdes to make sure no air escapes

Step 4: Attaching the Plastic Disk

-poke a hole in the center of your plastic disk large enough to fit the bolt through

-place a fender washer over the bolt and then put the bolt through the plastic disk ,then put it through the 5/16 inch hole in the wood

-put another fender washer over the bolt then take the nut and tighten onto the bolt using a wrench

Step 5: Cutting Vent Holes

-Use the razor knife or scissors to cut six vent holes in the plastic sheet/tarp that are 2 inches in diameter,place them within a few inches of the lid and evenly space out the holes

Step 6: What Worked and What Didn't

-when we made our hovercraft everything worked well we only had one problem which was the hole being too small , but we were able to make the hole bigger and then everything worked fine

-the tarp we used worked well it was strong enough to support the hovercraft and the person on it

Step 7: Physics Concepts Associated With the "Super Easy Hovercraft"

plenum chamber: this chamber is where the air is circulating around the perimeter of the board which gets the board to hover

pressure:more air is being forced into the plenum chamber so the air underneath the hovercraft is always at a higher pressure than the air outside the chamber which makes the hovercraft hover

friction:since there is a small amount of friction the hovercraft freely moves to any direction it wants

Newton's 3rd law of motion:for every action there is an equal and oppsite reaction when you step off the craft the craft moves the opposite direction which demonstrates this law

momentum: momentum is mass in motion and since the hovercraft has mass and it is in motin it thus has momentum