Project: Launching from liquid

[holidy174]

Hello all, i really need help on a physics project... i am stumped out of ideas..
the task: To build a boat that will propel itself 1 metre forward, then fire a projectile in an attempt to hit a target 2metres away (perpendicular to the direction of travel).

The boat must move by either grav. potential (Eg), or Elastic potential (Ee)... motors and batteries aren't allowed.

Basically, after you release it from the dock it has to move on its own and fire by itself...

I have thought of using mousetraps and gears, but not quite sure how to build it...



Thanks so much in advanced.

 

[berkeman]

Hello all, i really need help on a physics project... i am stumped out of ideas..
the task: To build a boat that will propel itself 1 metre forward, then fire a projectile in an attempt to hit a target 2metres away (perpendicular to the direction of travel).

The boat must move by either grav. potential (Eg), or Elastic potential (Ee)... motors and batteries aren't allowed.

Basically, after you release it from the dock it has to move on its own and fire by itself...

I have thought of using mousetraps and gears, but not quite sure how to build it...



Thanks so much in advanced.

Welcome to the PF.

Per the PF rules, we cannot do your project for you. What kinds of propulsion do model boats use (how do they get their power to the water)? That would seem to be a good place to start. Once you have figured out a couple potential ways to put power into the water, you can think of the most efficient ways to store the energy that you will release as power to your drive mechanism.

What would be a potential disadvantage of using gravitational potential energy to power a boat?