Potato Cannons Research Paper

803 Words2 Pages

My science fair project is about what different types of flammable gasses will make the potato shot further than it would with hair spray out of a potato cannon. I will have to make the potato cannon then test out the different gasses; this will allow me to get more variables, but there will also be more controls in the project. A control in my potato cannon is how long I have to spray the gasses inside the potato cannon. When doing my research I read an article that said not to use any other types of gasses or spray liquid other than hair spray so I have another control because of how dangerous it could be, so by making the ignition longer I will be a safe distance away. Due to the history and past experiments along with the procedures of making the potato cannon, my project will illustrate the concepts of physics. The cannon has been around for hundreds of years. First used in China the cannon was a gunpowder …show more content…

After you follow these steps you will have to open the end plug and spray hair spray inside the combustion chamber for around two seconds; then you have to screw the end plug onto the combustion chamber as soon as possible. Next you have to put your potato into the barrel, but it is not supposed to fit, the reason is because if put the whole potato inside it would have all the force go around the potato. So by having to shove the potato in the barrel this will allow no air or force to pass by the potato. After all the test runs I was going to see what other types of flammable gasses would work and if they would work better than the hair spray. Past experiments have taught me that you should not use any other type of gas or liquid spray than hair spray. Most of the experiments that I found on various websites were not for a science fair project. They weren't even for science they were for fun, but I did learn that a potato cannon is really dangerous no matter if you use gunpowder, compressed air, or hair

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