Balloon Car Olympics

By Catherine L.

On March 10^th , 2011, the Balloon Car Olympics took place in the Middle School Gym.  The excitement grew throughout the gym as people started testing their cars.  Everyone nervously started preparing for the competition.

The goal of the race was to build a car that could travel the farthest and fastest only using one balloon, all recycled materials, and using at least three wheels.  However, the main purpose of this project was to understand Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  The balloon was a great example of this law.  For example, when a balloon is inflated, the pressure within the balloon increases.  When the balloon is finally let go and the air releases, the air pressure from outside of the balloon opposes the air escaping from the balloon, which causes it to excel upward. 

On the day of the race, each car was expected to go past the pre-measured distance of five meters.  When the timer said “go!” the balloon car would be released and put to the test of crossing the five-meter line.  The car would continue past the finish line until it came to a stop, and the total distance traveled was then measured and recorded.  Each car had three trial runs, allowing a second or third chance if the car had technical issues the first two times.  There were two separate awards given: one for the fastest, and one for the car that traveled the farthest distance. 

The cars that succeeded in this competition were the cars with a lighter mass.  With a lighter mass, the balloon was be able to push the car faster and keep it moving over a longer distance; however, when the car was too light it would spin or turn out of control.  Another important factor in this project were the wheels.  Friction is one of the main forces that oppose the car’s movement forward.  Wheels are the easiest way to reduce friction.  How the builder created the wheels was essential for this project.

Overall the Balloon Car Olympics was a great success!  Every car was creatively and cleverly put together.  However, the cars that had the most impressive distances were Dylan Rathbone’s, with a distance of 19.3 meters, Andrew Laub’s, with a distance of 16.1 meters, and Conlon Kiesling’s, with a distance of 14 meters. The cars that went the fastest over a distance of 5 meters were those of Justin Swirbul, Andrew Laub, Tess Mackenzie and Mackenzie Lewis.