This is my balloon powered car. I love making things and this is one of them. This is something I've been wanting to make for a long time, so enjoy!

Supplies

Things You Need:

-Empty Water Bottle

-4 Bottle Caps

-Glue Gun

-1 Pair Of Chopsticks

-2 Straws

-A Pair Of Scissors

-Balloon

-Tape

Step 1: Water Bottle

You want to take your water bottle and just flatten it to the best of your ability. Take your scissors and pierce a hole in the bottle inside those 2 red holes.

Step 2: Straw

Next, you want to take your straw and cut it in half. Take the straws and put it in both the holes. ( Make sure the straws are not dead fittings in the holes or else the car wont be able to move )

Step 3: Chopsticks

Take your pair of chop sticks and snap it in half. The big hard part on the top of each stick, you want to snap that off. Put each chopstick in each of the straws and make sure the straws can move in a circular motion in each of the holes.

Step 4: Gluing

Plug in your glue gun and wait about 1-2 minutes for it to warm up. When it's fully warmed up put the glue in the glue gun in the very center of each bottle cap( do every bottle cap one by one ). Once you have put the hot glue in one of the bottle caps take a side of one of the sticks and put it in the center of the bottle cap. Repeat x 4

Step 5: The Balloon

Take your other straw and put it into the balloon until the end of the long part ( the long part is basically the part of the balloon you would use to tie it up ). Once the straw is in there, fold the extra ( if any ) long part of balloon over the straw and then wrap the tape all around so it's secure.

Step 6: Final Product and the Science Behind the Balloon Powered Car

It might not seem like it at first, but a simple balloon car is loaded with physics and engineering concepts! When you inflate a balloon, it stores potential energy in the form of stretched rubber and the compressed air inside. When you release the balloon, this energy is converted to kinetic energy—the energy of motion—as the balloon zooms around the room. Some of the energy is also converted to heat due to friction. According to the law of conservation of energy, the total amount of energy is conserved. Energy never “disappears”—it just changes to another form. Another way to think about the balloon's movement is to use Newton's third law of motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When you inflate a balloon and then release the nozzle, the rubber contracts and pushes the air out the nozzle. This means that there must be an equal and opposite reaction—the air pushes back on the rubber, propelling the balloon forward. This principle is used in real rockets and jets that shoot a high-speed stream of gases out the back of their engines, propelling the vehicle forward. In this project you will use this principle to build a toy car that is propelled forward by the stream of air escaping a balloon as it deflates.

The car also contains a simple machine: the wheel and axle. This invention has been around so long, we take it for granted—and many of us ride in wheeled vehicles every day. You will see, however, getting your wheel and axle to spin smoothly is a critical part of getting your balloon car to work!

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW!