Newton Scooters
Challenge
You are to design and build a vehicle that moves without the use of gravity, electricity, solar power or someone
pushing or pulling it. You will create a design and explain how Newton’s Laws apply to the movement of the
vehicle.
Extra credit points will be earned for the building of the vehicle and successful movement
Introduction
Imagine what would happen if you and a friend were standing on roller skates and you gave your friend
a forward push. What would happen to you? Would you stand still or would you travel backward? The
backward motion that you would experience can be explained by Newton's third law of motion, which
describes an equal and opposite reaction to every action.
In this project, you will use Newton's Third law of Motion to design a vehicle. This vehicle must travel
forward 1.5 meters using stored energy of air in a balloon, rubber band, or other material. At the close
of this project, you will demonstrate your vehicle and explain its features to the class.
Project Rules
1. You may use the base only of a toy car but you must make your own body and propulsion
system
2. Your vehicle design plans must be approved by the teacher before you begin construction of
your vehicle.
3. You must build your vehicle from scrap materials or something from $1 store
4. Must turn in design in order to get extra credit points for vehicle
5. You may only use the base of a toy car. You must make your own car body and decide how to
attach the propulsion system. You may not use a car kit or just tape a balloon to a toy car.
6. Your vehicle must travel forward 1.5 meters and completely cross the finish line. The path of
your vehicle should stay within a width of 1 meter.
7. You are not allowed to interfere with the movement of your vehicle. You cannot give your
vehicle a push as you launch it, and you cannot help it in anyway is it travels from the starting
line.
8. You cannot use any form of electricity (batteries) or the pull of gravity to move your
vehicle. This means that you cannot use a downhill ramp to get your vehicle started.
9. You must present your vehicle explaining how it works and how various forces act upon it as
well as how Newton’s Law applies and present a problem sheet identifying problems you
encountered during your build and how you solved the issue.
10. For the class presentation, you must have diagrams of your vehicle that illustrate the forces
that act upon it. These must be big enough for the class to see (8 ½” X 11”). You should also be
able to explain any modifications that you made to improve the performance of your vehicle.
11. You may decorate your vehicle if you like
Methods to Consider
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Inflated balloon- air released from the balloon creates forward motion
Rubber band- release of tension send the vehicle forward
Winding wheels- winding causes forward motion of wheels
Mousetrap- force from the spring sends car forward
Clothespin springs
Propellers
Other ideas?
Suggested Materials
Recycled materials from home, toys, or building block sets; balloons, CD’s, bottle
caps, empty water or plastic pop bottles, springs, straws, fishing lines, paper towel
rolls, popsicle sticks, toilet paper rolls, rubber bands, foil
The vehicle has 3 main parts:
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The body of the car (cardboard, plastic bottle, wood, etc)
The wheels of the car (cd’s, plastic bottle caps, container lids, cardboard cutouts)
The axles- connects the wheels to the body and allows the wheels to spin (wood skewer in straw)
Project Hints
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Be creative! Don’t limit yourself to vehicles that have 4 wheels. Think about other ways that you could get your
vehicle to move a distance of 1.5 meters. The rules state that the vehicle has to stay within a width of 1 meter,
What happens if you inflate a balloon and release it into the air? Can you use Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion to explain
this movement? How could you use the balloon’s movement to push your vehicle? Can you think of any other
objects like this that you could use to push your vehicle?
Project Research
Use the following sites to obtain more explanation of Newton's 3rd Law of Motion so
you can apply it to building your "Scooter" vehicle.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/newt.html#nt3
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Phys_p099.shtml#background
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py0iTaaVSrs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjXYVpAyYG0
http://etorgerson.net/NewtonScooterHelp.html material ideas
or Google Newton Scooters- check out videos and websites
Project Timeline
Sketch of possible vehicle completed with materials
5/27/15
Must do
Worksheet describing Newton’s Laws and Forces
5/27/15
Must do
Vehicle construction completed and brought in
6/1/15
Extra Credit
Race Day
6/1/15
Extra Credit
Evaluation, Final Drawing and Suggested redesign
6/2/15
Extra Credit