How to Build a Science Project Vacuum

A vacuum cleaner can suck up debris because high-pressure air from outside of it meets up with low-pressure air inside, according to Home Training Tools. When the high-pressure air replaces the low-pressure air inside, it carries with it dirt and dust, which end up in the vacuum cleaner's filter bag. In the common electric vacuum, a fan moves air inside rapidly, thus lowering the pressure and resulting in a suction.

Things You'll Need

• 2-liter soda bottle
• Sharp scissors, razor blade or box cutter
• Ruler
• Paper
• Tape
• Tissue paper
• Thread
• Ping-Pong ball
• Tiny balls of paper or bread crumbs

Instructions

1. To make a hand-pump vacuum cleaner, cut off the bottom of a soda bottle about a third of the way above the base. Make a slice down this bottom third on one side of the bottle and slide it inside the bottle's top part. You now have a piston (a piston is a component of a pump or compressor that transfers force, according to Reference.com). Snip a strip of paper 6 inches by 3 inches and fold it in half lengthwise. Tape this paper to the bottom of the soda bottle on either side, so that you now have a handle for the piston.

2. Cut a three-quarter-inch hole in the bottle's top part about one-and-a-half inches below the bottle's neck. The hole is important because it will give you access to the vacuum's filter bag. Construct this filter bag with a piece of tissue paper, cutting the paper to six inches by four inches. Fold the paper in half and tape the sides. Tape this new bag over the hole you punched below the neck of the soda bottle.

3. Connect one of the ends of a piece of thread to a Ping-Pong ball with tape. Place the ball (which will serve as a valve) inside the bottle and pull the free end of the thread through the mouth of the bottle. Tape the free end of the thread to the outside of the soda bottle, placing it close enough to the neck so that the Ping-Pong ball can hang just a little below the neck.

4. Push the bottom of the bottle into the top section (which is the cylinder, according to Light-science.com), and then draw it back quickly (this is how you will operate the piston).

5. Force the piston back in the bottle. By doing this, you compress the air and boost the air pressure, forcing air to flow back out of the bottle. You're basically pushing the ball (your valve) into the bottle's neck when you do this, so the air you're forcing out of the bottle really is going through the hole that has the filter bag covering it rather than through the mouth of the bottle. Place tiny balls of paper or bread crumbs near your new vacuum. When you pull the piston out quickly, you should be able to suck these tiny items into the bottle. After you push the piston back in gently, they should go into the filter bag.

Tips & Warnings

• Be careful when using a razor blade or scissors to cut.

References

• Home Training Tools: Make a Vacuum Cleaner
• Reference.com: Piston
• Light-science.com: Make an Air Pump into a Vacuum Cleaner Science Project