Physics Class Hands-On Project: Building CO2 Race Cars

From Morgan Brown, Physics Teacher:

Grauer Physics students have spent the past quarter learning about force, motion, velocity, and acceleration. To put their learning into action, they researched, designed, and built their own CO2-powered race cars and competed in two areas: Aesthetics and Speed. The cars were made of wood or 3-D printed material, and a CO2 cartridge was inserted into a hole in the back of each car. A special launching mechanism was used to trigger the CO2 release, which propelled the cars forward very quickly. The Physics students saw Newton's Laws in action firsthand during their races, because the cars with the lowest mass had the greatest acceleration and easily shot ahead of the heavier cars. Additionally, the students gained experience using the workshop tools including the drill press, belt sander, band saw, and hand tools in the construction of their cars, and they got to put an artistic touch on their cars through painting and decoration. Congratulations to Gavin N. 26, and Noe P. '25 for creating the fastest cars, and to Maya P. '25, Ennis R. '25, and Ronin M. '25 for being voted by their classmates to have the best aesthetic designs for their cars!

This project is an important part of the curriculum which provides more hands-on learning and real-life data analysis. The written component included using software to track the car's position, velocity, and acceleration during launch, and subsequent calculations of the thrust force provided by the CO2 canisters. The students overwhelmingly succeeded in the project and it will be a great springboard into our next curriculum units involving momentum, energy, and collisions. I am incredibly proud of the time and effort all of the Physics students put into this project, and I think the results speak for themselves!