Home Made Hovercraft Experiment By Abigail Despoy 10/5/11

Question Could I construct a working hovercraft and test which hole configuration would work best?

Hypothesis My hypothesis was that the larger holes in a hovercraft would make the hovercraft go higher and run smoother.

Variables Independent – Use of 2 inch and 3 inch holes in the inflatable base of the hovercraft. Controlled – The leaf blower and size of the wooden base remained the same throughout the experiment.

Materials 2x4ft sheet of ¾ inch plywood Leaf blower Tarp Duct tape Screws Bolt Straps 2 inch piece of Round plywood

Tools Table Saw Jig Saw Drill Pencil and string Nail (To attach string to draw circle) Tape measure Ruler Hole saw Utility knife

Safety Rules Always wear eye protection in Lab. Always have adult supervision in the lab. I always wore eye protection when working on this project. My Mom watched and supervised the entire lab and helped build the hovercraft and my dad helped cut the plywood.

Procedure I started with a plywood base 2 ft x 4 ft and then drew a ½ circle with a 1 foot radius on both ends using a pencil and string. Line

Procedure I cut the ½ circles using a jig saw and used a drill and hole saw to cut a hole for the leaf blower.

Procedure I then cut and attached the tarp to the plywood with screws and duct tape.

Procedure I then had to drill a hole and attach the center plug with a bolt.

Procedure I then cut holes in the bottom with a utility knife and attached the leaf blower with straps and duct tape. We started with smaller holes, and then went to larger holes for this experiment to compare which holes worked best. 3 inch holes shown

Testing And now for the fun part. We tested the hovercraft. Click for Video

Testing It even worked on my Dad. Click for Video

Data Hovercraft with 2 inch holes went 3 ½ inches off the ground. Hovercraft with 3 inch holes went 2 ½ inches off the ground. Smaller holes propelled this hovercraft better than larger holes.

Data

Conclusion In conclusion, my hypothesis stated that the larger air holes would make the hovercraft go higher and run smoother. My hypothesis was incorrect. According to the data, the hovercraft with the smaller holes had a higher lift and ran smoother. Possible problems that may have occurred with this lab include leakage in duct tape and holes developing in the tarp. Solutions included adding more duct tape to seal leaks and taping holes.

The End Click for closing Video