How to Make a Balloon Powered Car With Decorations

Balloon-powered cars propel themselves with compressed air.

Racing was probably one of the first types of competition that human beings engaged in. In teaching some of the basic principles of physics, many educators have their students build balloon-propelled cars and race them. And, naturally, if you are going to build a balloon-propelled car, why not make it look good?

Things You'll Need

• Cereal box
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Drinking straw
• Clothes hanger
• Wire cutters
• Soda bottle caps
• Small nail
• 4 old compact discs
• Balloon
• Glow-in-the-dark paint
• Paintbrush

Instructions

1. Use your ruler and scissors to measure and cut the following rectangular pieces with the following measurements (in inches) out of the cereal box: 1 by 2, 1 by 3, 1 by 5 (two), 1 by 6 (two).

2. Stand the two 1-by-6 pieces and the 1-by-3 piece on their sides and use the hot glue gun to glue them together in a triangular shape. Lay the triangle down flat on top of one of the 1-by-5 pieces and glue it, with the 1-by-5 piece connecting to the 1-by-3 piece and the acute angle made by the 1-by-6 pieces. Glue the 1-by-2 piece to the top of the central 1-by-5 piece near the acute angle, and glue the other 1-by-5 piece so that it is over the 1-by-3 piece.

3. Use your ruler and scissors to cut the drinking straw into 2-inch sections. Glue one lengthwise to the top of the 1-by-2 piece of cardboard, and glue the other lengthwise to the top of the 1-by-5 piece of cardboard. Make sure they are centered.

4. Use the wire cutters to cut straight sections out of the hanger, one 5 inches long and one 7 inches long. Run these through the two sections of straw that you just glued to the body of the car.

5. Use the nail to poke a hole in the center of each bottle cap. Glue each bottle cap over the hole in the middle of each compact disc. Run the ends of the hanger sections through these holes and glue them in place.

6. Place the remaining piece of straw in the balloon and seal the end of the balloon around it with hot glue. Glue the balloon onto the central 1-by-5 piece of cardboard so that the straw points out the back of the car.

7. Paint patterns on the wheels so that when you set the car rolling and turn off the lights, they will become luminescent spinners.

Tips & Warnings

• Be careful whenever handling hot glue--you can burn yourself.

References

• Big Learning: Make a Balloon-Powered Car