The Fastest Electric Race Car

Hi, my name is Zachary Thomas, and i made this project "build an electric car." The car I built is made from wood, some RC car parts and an electric motor given to me by my teacher. The first thing I put on was, the screws, then the wire, rubber band, wheels, wooden plank, the motor, and the battery. Also we tested it two times, and the second try worked. What I wanted to improve on this project is the motor, and the battery upgraded.

Electricity powers the motor of my car. The electricity is provided by the 2 AA batteries in the battery power pack. I was able to get this power pack from my local hobby shop.

Electricity comes in 2 forms:

1. AC which means Alternating Current

Usually found in our homes such as electrical plugs

2. DC which means Direct Current

DC is what we will use for this car and is typically represented by a simple battery.

Electricity is a natural phenomenon that occurs throughout nature, and takes many forms. Benjamin Franklin once said that "Electricity flows from positive closet side of the voltage source to the negative side." Voltage is the difference in charge between two points. Current id the rate at which a charge is flowing. Resistance is a materials tendency to resist the flow of charge or current.

A Series Circuit is a circuit in which resistors are arranged n a chain, so the current has only one path to take. The current is the same through each resistors. A Parallel Circuit has two or more paths for current to flow through. Voltage is the same across each component of the parallel circuit. Some of the currents through each path is equal to the total current that flows throughout the sourcde.

Here is the list of materials you need:

1. Wheels

2. HOT glue

3. Rubber bands

4. Wire

5. Wooden plank

6. Screws

7. Scissors

8. RC car parts

9. Battery pack and batteries

To put the screws in the wood, you need to screw them in the wood and put the wires through the little hole. I used my hands to put the screws in the hole. These screws will hold the wire and wheels to make sure they are evenly spaced.

When done with the screws, you will need to use hot glue, wire, and don't forget... WHEELS!!! Now, cut the wire, and place the wheels in it. Then, hot glue the wheels to the wire.

Also on the wire is a pulley from an old RC car. The rubber band will go from the motor pulley to the pulley on the wire to make the car go.

Now the challenging part. First place the wires through the holes. Then glue the wheels to the wooden plank. I needed to get the pulley just right so it does't rub against the balsa wood.

Onto the motor, I added a pulley that my dad got from an old computer CD drive. It seemed to fit just right.

Now i put hot glue onto the wooden plank. Then place the motor and the battery onto the wooden plank. You need to have just enough tension on the rubber band between the motor and the wheels. Too much and it could break the axle. Too little and the rubber band will slip and the car won't run.

Ready for the fun part? I first tested the race car. The wheels slipped off the axle. I needed to add more hot glue to make sure the wheels stayed on the axle and the car ran. The second time I tested it, it worked!!!!

You need a switch, so I thought the easiest way to do this was to use a piece of clear plastic between one terminal of the battery. When I remove this plastic, the battery makes the connection and the car runs.

I love this project!! What I like about it is that making the car was fun and testing it.