how does newton's 3rd law work with co2 cartridges?

Question

My project in science was to create a vehicle that can move atleast 5 feet following Newton's 3rd Law of Motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I used a car I made in 6th grade that has a whole for a CO2 cartridge, so I just bought some at walmart.

The problem is...we have to write a one page essay on how our car relates to newton's law and I don't know much about how a CO2 cartridge works. All I know is that a hole is poked in it, which makes the car go. What are some facts I can put in my essay?

Answer 1

CO2 is a dry gas with properties similar to the air you breath. CO2 gas is actually carbon dioxide. It can be compressed or perhaps "Squezed into cylinders or cartridges. When the cartridge is placed into your car and a hole is poked into one end of the cartridge, the compressed gas rapidly escapes out of the hole. The gas will continue to escape until the pressure inside the cartridge is the same as the pressure outside the cartridge. As to Newton's third law.... The gas is forced out of the cartridge in one direction directly out of the hole in the cartridge. As this "Thrust" or escaping gas is forced out of the cartridge in one direction, it creates an equal amount of force attempting to push the cartridge in the opposite direction. Since the car is easily moved on wheels. this thrust pushes the car in the perquisite direction of the escaping gas thrust.



Good luck Cheral Anne. :-)

Answer 2

When the car is at rest there are no unbalanced forces (Newtons 1'st law). When you open the valve on the CO2 Cartridge, there will he a stream of CO2 gas which escapes and will cause the car to move in the opposite direction from which the gas is blowing. This is because it is creating an unbalaced force in the opposite direction causing the car to move. Theoretically the car will accelerate at a steady rate (assuming the rate at which the gas is escaping remains constant).



Good Luck!

Answer 3

CO2 is pressurized in the cartridge. When it is released through a "metered orifice", a fancy name for "hole", the gas expands and rapidly escapes the cartridge. The jet-like stream of escaping gas creates a force vector in the opposite direction from the gas flow.