Science: Wind Racers

 Hi there!

Today I will be writing a blog about wind racers in Science as a part of our Forces and Motion unit. This will be a joint blog post with the other people in my group. 

Aim: To make the fastest or most creative wind racer

Method:

1. Research different types of wind racers and land yachts

2. Choose a design 

3. Choose materials for wind racer

4. Start making wind racer and make adjustments if necessary.

Results: 

Wind racer I designed

Discussion:

There were 4 forces acting on the wind racer. But before we talk about this we need to learn what a "force" is. A force is a push or pull movement that is measured in Newtons (N), after Sir Issac Newton. You may be wondering, how is force measured? Here is your answer! Forces are measured by using a newton meter, they also have a size and direction too. Here is a diagram of the four forces:

Forces come in pairs, support & gravity/weight the first pair. The second being push/thrust & friction.

Let's see this on another wooden block: 

Weight/gravity force:

- The block is exerting a force on the table in the downwards direction due to it's weight (gravity's effect on it's mass). Therefore, it's called the weight force. 

Support force:

- Since the block isn't moving, the table is also exerting a force which is equal to the force on the block in the upwards or opposite direction. This is called the support force  (or the reaction force). 

In this picture, imagine someone is pushing the block from the right. 

Push/thrust force:

- The person is exerting a force on the block towards the left. This force can be called a push/thrust force. 

Friction force:

- Friction between the block of wood and the table resists the push/thrust force. So, it is called the friction force. 

NOTE: the size of the arrows is used to show the relative size of the forces.

You can't see a force, but most of the time you can see the effect of it/what it does. Forces make stationary things move or speed up and make things already moving slow down, change their direction and their shape. 

Forces are normally put into two groups, contact forces and non-contact forces. 

Contact forces: 

- Occur when the object transmitting force is in contact with the object experiencing the force. (e.g. A screwdriver being used to open a tin of paint or a foot pushing down on the pedal of a bike.)

Non-contact forces:

- Gravity or magnetism, neither requires contact between objects experiencing force. (e.g. Moon travelling in orbit around Earth or Electromagnet picking up metal)

As mentioned above, there were four forces acting on the wind racer. The weight/gravity force kept the wind racer from floating up into the air, and the support force kept the wind racer from being crushed into the ground. Push/thrust from the leaf blower kept the wind racer moving and the friction force eventually slowed the wind racer, as there was no wind to catch on. 

Conclusion:

Yes, my wind racer worked, it travelled a total distance of 2-4 metres, something I definitely wasn't expecting to happen, as I started to second guess my design and all the things which could go wrong when we raced it. Next time, I would research more and make multiple designs. 

Thanks for reading!