Science Buddies Experiment

I found the idea for this experiment on Science Buddies and many people have done the same experiment. Each has made different cars that they think will be the fastest or go the longest distance. Others have tested this experiment, but they put a weight such as pennies, marbles, etc. What I am planning to do is make a very lightweight car that can travel a longer distance. The energy that the balloon will force out is called kinetic energy. According to the website The Physics Classroom, kinetic energy “is the energy of motion”. The kinetic energy helps the car propel forwards. However, the balloon is facing backwards so how can it move forwards? The thing that makes the car go forward is the Newton's third law of motion. The Physics Classroom states that “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” …show more content…
The dependent variable is the distance that the car travels. The problem statement shows the independent and dependent variables in question form. It says “How does the amount of air blown into the balloon affect the distance of the car?” I predict that the amount of air in the balloon will affect the distance because the more air the balloon holds, the longer it will take to empty all of the air out. Thus, causing the car to go further because of the slightly longer time it takes to clear out all of the air from the