All 3D prints
Balloon-Powered Car
- PLA
- Easy
- Primary
- Secondary
About this print
A car body and wheels made by a STEAM lab for teachers: add barbecue skewers as axles and a balloon, and it races across the floor.
It explains energy conversion (elastic energy in the balloon to movement) and Newton's third law (the air pushes back, the car goes forward).
Design by Limitless STEAM Lab on Printables, shared under CC BY 4.0. The files and photos are the designer's, unchanged.
Printing and using it
- Print the car and four wheels. Pick the wheel version that fits your skewers (3 mm or 2.5 mm hole).
- Fit skewers as axles and hot-glue a balloon to the car.
- Race: measure distance and time, then change one thing (balloon size, wheel type) and compare.
