Last week at Heavenly Hall, we dove into a new subject of material: balloons.

We spent time building a balloon zipline, then measuring the speed using good old fashioned stopwatches (or stopwatch apps if you will.). We then used video to analyze the speed, by using software to view the video frame by frame. See the pictures for more details!

Next we began building CD balloon hovercrafts, using a CD and a pop-top lid to act as a valve. Letting the air flow creates a pocket of air for the CDs to float around, free of friction!

Next week, we’ll be taking our CDs to full scale as we attempt to build a leafblower powered hovercraft, capable of propelling our brave pilots around on a pocket of air! Perhaps even a set of comically oversized bowling pins, and we’ll be set to have a blast floating around!