What are some ways of self propelling a car using only rubber bands and not starting it on a slope ?
607417
you can pin it to the frame and wind it around the axle by pulling it backwards, you can use the "propeller" method. basically a balsawood plane with wheels and no wings. Or you can use the rubber band as a slingshot any of these will propell the car up hill or otherwise\n\n Well...\nFrom the materials list alone, it's clear that this is a "professional grade"\nrubber band project. The #107 rubber band is a 5/8" x 7" size, which can\nstore quite a bit of energy. And you'll need it, since you're climbing a\n16 foot ramp with a load. I'm not sure exactly how you "pick up" a 50 gram\nload, but I'll assume that it's suspended over the track so that you don't\nrequire a mechanism to grab it, just drive under and it falls onto the tractor.\n\n\nThe problem then is that you need to balance your gear ratio against the\nweight you have to carry. At the start, you can afford a higher gear ratio\nbecause you don't have much to carry. As you move, you need to "gear down"\nto pull the heavier load. If you just gear it low to start with, you may not\nhave enough travel distance to make it to the end. If you gear too high,\nyou won't be able to pull the heavy load near the end.\n\n\nI'd look hard at a stepped-drum variable transmission. If your drive axle\nhas a series of stepped drive drums, with the smallest unwinding first, then\nyou have a high gear ratio for the first stage that goes far enough to pick\nup the first weight. It then steps up to *just enough* bigger that it can pull\nthe weight, and continues to the second step. Another step up just before\npicking up the next weight, and so on until you reach the end. You use up\nmore rubber band travel at the lower gears near the end, but you've saved\nthe travel during the early part of the pull.\n\n\nI'm thinking that your four feet of string will suffice for the drive system,\nso long as you can can stretch the rubber bands from a support at a distance.\nYou should measure the maximum stretch you can get from a rubber band, and\nfigure from that how much string to use, then use that to derive the drum\nsizes, then take *that* and work out the wheel diameter. If you get a choice\nof "string", I like 90lb test braided dacron fishing line. It's light, easy\nto work with, and much less lossy than cotton string. One option might be\na "boom-style" string puller, with the string attached to the end of a rod\nthat pivots at one end, and the rubber bands anchored to a sturdy structure\nthat pulls the rod. You can vary the attachment points of string and rubber\nbands to get the best balance of pulling force and stroke length, but you\nneed to make sure there won't be overhead obstructions on the track.\n\n\nEfficiency is important; do the best you can to make things smooth, be\nsure there's no binding in your bearings, and look hard at energy losses\nthroughout the system. This is an energy-management problem really, and\nyour task is to take a limited energy supply from the rubber band and spend\nit wisely to *just* achieve the goal. If you can, design your rubber band\nanchor so it can be adjusted, and do your prototype test runs with the\nband stretched to about 70% capacity. That gives you some margin for\nvariables, when the real test comes.\n\n\nHere's a pick of a simple design http://www.balloonhq.com/balloon_car/27.html, here's another pic http://www.plumcreekmarketing.com/07science/01images/fullsize/164304.jpg and another pic http://www.marshall.edu/lego/ati/ATI_LEGO2.htm
915674
place it into your regular car, then drive fast
547462
I have a suggestion:\n1) go outside at exactly midnight and place your thumb on the exact center of you left rear wheel/hubcap for exactly 32.5 seconds\n\n2) stand due North and blow into the wind at for exactly 15.7 seconds\n\nAfter doing this your car doors should open up and you will be able to retain your keys.  Good luck!!!
896989
You can make a ball bearing launcher:\nhttp://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/maglnch.htm\n\nYou can make your own levitating MagLev train:\nhttp://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/magtrain.htm\n\nOther info is available here:\nhttp://www.kn.sbc.com/wired/fil/pages/listmagnetsan1.html
1078881
Anything with RWD can be made to drift.  The Nissan 240SX is sort of the classic drift car, because they're well balanced and not too expensive, but you can drift anything that powers off the rear tires.  You may need to tweak the suspension a bit, especially for cars with less power.  Start by playing with the tire pressures, because it's cheap.  I'd recommend way OVERinflating the rears -- that reduces your overall grip at the rear but makes the breakaway much more stable.  (It's what I used to do in a FWD car that I autocrossed 15 years ago -- I could *almost* get a drift going in a VW GTI after setting up the shocks and tire pressures.  Let's just say that when I used to overcook a corner and spin it on course,  the back end would come around first...)\n\nThese days the only drifting I do is on gravel. :-)
1096154
use a pop bottle quarter fill wth water, and seal with a rubber cork(one with a hole in the middle this is where you put your compressor attachment)  add fins to your bottle just like a real rocket\n\nuse a half pipe as a ramp and angle it a 45 degrees ataach the compressor to the bottle and turn on.  when the air pressure gets high enough the cork will shoot out and the rocket will fly.  try different amounts of water and change the angle
693249
Actually, for this idea to work, the "windmill" would have to be mounted on the roof of the car and it could be used to recharge a battey while the car is parked.  If it was in use while the car was moving, it would increase drag and waste energy.  The car would have to be parked in a very windy location or for a long time between uses to charge the battery enough for a reasonable trip.  The battery would have to be much larger than the type used to start a car because it must store far more energy for a trip.  If you have an idea for a patent, you must file an application within one year of making a public disclosure.
68424
vasatrainer is one of the best \nthe website is in one of the other entries\nor you can simply purchase bungee cords and tie them around a pole and mimick the vasatrainer movements
414472
HAHAHAHA You all forgot about our little friend called drag! Inside or out the ball has a drag force acting on it by the surrounding air. Like stated before the air in the car is moving with you, and the car, and the ball all the same and the drag force on the ball at this point is negligible. This is not the effect of a vacume, a vacume is the absence of air. is it possible for there to be no air in the car? NO, Sooo.. outside on a bike or where ever, you are traveling at a speed where the balls light weight will be significantly affected by this drag force and it will cause it to slow down as you throw it up and while you keep riding on un affected by the static(motionless) air, your ball only has one force acting on it, air drag causing it to slow behind you.   test this by throwing a variety of same shaped objects while riding and you will see that the one with the most density will keep up the best. try a marble V.S. a ping pong ball.  then do it in the car
688363
Learn how to horse-hop. Rolling at a slow speed, standing on the pedals; in one fluid two step motion: crank into a high wheelie, put your weight on the back tire for a split second, then jump up off of the back tire pushing the handlebars up and forward and lifting your feet as high as you can.\n\nLifting and pushing on the bar is what keeps the pedals on your feet (try lifting the bike like this a couple times while standing next to it to see how it works).\n\nYou should be able to get at least a foot or more off of the ground with a little practice. The trick is in weighting the back tire and then jumping off of it.\n\nNow: Take this technique with a little more speed to some small jumps and shock yourself. With the right timing you can go ridiculously high off of very small things.\n\nWith bigger jumps this technique is not necessary or possible but your body motion is very similar so this is a good place to start.
98948
All you really need is a source of high current. A car battery would work fine. The real question is what are you going to use as a "rod" and "flux"  Those are the critical issues.
1031072
Possible, but very difficult. \n\nIn a rear wheel drive car, I do a power drift. I shift in to a lower gear and turn the wheel simultaneously to get the wheels loose, then nail it and spin the tires to keep it moving in the direction I want.\n\nOn a front wheel drive car, that isn't possible. As soon as you let the engine take over, the front wheels are going to pull you out of the drift.\n\nYou have to use speed, momentum and brakes to your advantage when drifting in a FWD car. I really don't recommend you starting out in a FWD car - it is extremely dangerous for a beginner. Take your parent's car out or something really late at night so you don't have to worry about traffic.
999967
We used to do it by wetting the ground or waiting until just after a good rain storm.... then a metal rod with a good insulated handle.... attach the negative side of a 12 volt car battery to a ground rod.... and attatch a wire and small rod to the positive wire... made sure you have on some good rubber boots.... and touch the small rod to the ground for just a couple of seconds... three or four.... and let it up.... it used to bring up alot of night crawlers in a hurry
1173286
Make the flow in front of your object turbulent by sending something solid right in front of it (like "drafting" in NASCAR) or by putting a rough shape on the object (like dimples on a golf ball).\n\nYou could also heat it up, but that's not very practical in most cases.
98272
No quick starts - lighten up on the accelerator.\nMaintain the recommended tire inflation for your car\nDon't exceed the speed limit. I do alot of highway driving-I use my cruise control on 65 mph and get good gas mileage.\nDon't let your car idle for long periods of time.\nUse the lowest octane gas that doesn't make your car's engine "knock".\nKeep your car's engine tuned up.  Replace spark plugs if necessary.  \nIf your car has fuel injection, occasionally put a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in a full tank of gas. (I do this on long car trips)\nThere are probably more tips!
970116
The only way that could work was if the battery was not working due to lack of water.  Adding water won't help without charging the battery but if it was barely low enough it might help spread out the electrolytes allowing the car to start.
838153
sorry they dont make such a thing for a geo prizm if you want it to go faster push it off a cliff