Elastic Band Car Instructions
2 straws this will be the frame of the car.
Elastic band car instructions. Rubber bands are a convenient and effective way to teach energy transformation and this rubber band car makes that lesson a blast. 4 toothpicks or wooden skewers. It s a thicker cardboard and will definitely hold up better. We needed two attach the rubber band to a fixed position at the front of the car.
I have also used a paper clip. We used a craft stick for this. When released that energy is converted to kinetic motion energy. Wrap the rubber band around the rear axle.
While you can certainly use a paper towel tube for your car i chose a sturdier tube that came from a box of aluminum foil. Finally run a chain of rubber bands from one end of the cardboard tube to the other and secure it with a paper clip. A quick google search for rubber band car project yields tens of thousands of results so why reinvent the rubber band powered wheel the top results show cars with small wheels without traction or cd wheels which are difficult to attach to an axel both of. This rubber band car tutorial comes right out of the pages of one of my new books rubber band mania.
These are recycled paper staws. I cut a slit in the top of the. Next wrap 2 rubber bands around each cd to make an x shape and attach the cds to the car by sliding the wooden spools onto the dowels. The energy generated from the rubber band snapping back into shape is enough to power this small car.
The rubber band unwinds to regain its former configuration spinning the axle and propelling the car forward in the process. Aiden has broken the wheels off of the car several times and i ve had to reglue them. Adult supervision is recommended for children under 10. On twisting the rubber band around the axle you are storing potential energy in it that gets transformed into kinetic energy when you let it go.
Rubber bands can inflict pain if mishandled. I ll include affiliate links to find what you need on amazon as well. Depending on the length of your car you may need two rubber bands.