Urban Outlaw

I just got my 1st project for my engineering class......Yes i am a college student. And I am VERY excited about this. Cause I get to use my knowledge about cars in it. But more brains combined is better then one

Rules (as far as I know right now)
I need to make a Diet Coke and Mentos powered vehicle.. I think i have to use 2 litres of Diet coke. 50 dollar budget!!!

I have a basic design and idea in my head right now. but more minds and more ideas help a lot!

What I'm thinking right now is. a 2 litre's of coke is a good amount of weight for it's size... So the lighter the better. Also the size of the spout of a 2 litre bottle is really large... and lets all the gases out quickly. so I need to size it down, for it to last longer. But not to small, think about a exhaust on a car.. To big loose TQ to small loose HP.. Also I think about how big the tires should be and how far away from the bottle the should be. Another thing is what is it going to push off of? Air is pretty thin compared to the gases coming out of the bottle.. and idk if it'll have enough thrust to get going and keep going with the weight.

Here's a crude "paint" drawing of what is in my head



still need to think of a way to keep the bottle to not move....

ANY suggestions helps... if other people think its dumb. who cares, this is brain storming. This isn't due till the end of the semester. But its competition at the end, and I'd really like to win

Thanks everyone! First Thank You to any one that says something back!

neville610135

i remember seeing this **** in 8th grade science. you HAVE to use gas to propel it? wound rubber bands work better. if you have the gas pushing on that back piece, it wouldnt go anywhere. you should make a wheel with a pinwheel type apparatus mounted to it so the air pushes against the pinwheel, and propels those wheels. keep the front wheels hella smooth and moderate size so they roll fast. the more 2 liters, the more drive wheels, the faster. 50 bucks will get you a butt load

Ayuaddict

why dont you use a wheel in an enclosed area that would catch the coke and would be connected to the wheels, this would require the coke bottle to face forward.

basic idea:

neville610135

i posted at 6 am and you posted at 6:01. i didnt even close out the thread and went to paint to make the drawing. who's the childish one? ur fighting over who's idea it was. im sure we could both agree we're not the only ones who could come up with it anyway. its not rocket science

Ayuaddict

i PMed you an apology for the edit and removed my comment.

ryguy

iTrader: (1)

instead of a "water wheel" why don't you use more of a turbine? Something that will channel all the pop through it instead of just hitting it?

Either way I think you'll still be better off tilting the bottle back at a 20 degree angle firing straight back.

Urban Outlaw

I kinda of disagree. I'll say why. in this video http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=1

the bottle (which is a 1 litre) is pointed towards the ground.... Why would u do that? If i just layed it flat, I dont think the air would make it move. But it's tilted so it hits the ground... Thus making something to push off of. Which is why i put that one part on the chassis. Not only is it something to first push off of, but it stays with the chassis to keep pushing off of. I'm just saying that's what I'm thinking right now. I might be wrong with it tho... If u can come up with a reason why that would work. I'll be on ur side with the idea 100%

On eveyone else's idea. Its a good idea of thinking making something else power the "car". But with many different things trying to take the power from the bottle not only adds weight but it takes power away from the it. Get what I'm saying? Say like u are compressed air trying to push a fan... 7/9 of that air will hit it (guess guessing). So I lose 2/7 of power. Not only that but from what I've learned with cars it'll lose more power after that. Think about a flywheel HP and a to the wheels HP. big difference. I'm not saying ya'll have bad idea's... they are really good. Espically neville i see what ur saying.

Ayuaddict

yes, that why i recomended he use a enclosed wheel. which would be a turbine i suppose.

ryguy

iTrader: (1)

I think the water wheel will be too complicated, or needlessly complicated. What if you had something that would hold the nozzle shut while pressure built up and then released it when the pressure was great enough, like some kind of device attached to the side of the bottle, and when the side of the bottle swells from pressure it releases?

I know its not exactly the same concept, but look at the thrust potential when you allow the pressure to build. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0il_q70rcS0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWS0FZEqdJA

neville610135

i hear remnants of blow off valves and turbos...