Hovercraft Inertia Lab

A.) Unfortunately I wasn't able to ride the hovercraft because it broke, but I hear from my colleagues that it was smooth and it kept a constant speed. I also hear from them that it took a lot of force to stop because it was moving at a fast speed. Riding a hovercraft is different from riding a skateboard or sled, because both a sled and a skateboard have contact with the ground where they experience friction. You feel the bumps and other obstacles which cause the skateboard or sled to slow down and stop if a force doesn't push the object forward.

B.) I learned how the object moving with keep a constant velocity and it won't even slow down unless an outside force acts upon it. I also learned that to have a net force of zero the two forces pushing the object must be using the exact same amount of force. In this lab I also learned exactly what equilibrium is. It means that all forces are acting at a single moment, which I saw in phase one and three of the hovercraft lab.

C.) Based on this lab, acceleration depends on the person's mass riding the hovercraft as well as the net force. The mass is important in acceleration because the smaller the person the faster the acceleration and the bigger the person the slower the acceleration. The net force is important in the acceleration because if one of the forces is pushing the hovercraft with more force then it will accelerate but if the two forces are equal then there will be no acceleration.

D.) Based on this lab you would have constant velocity when you are pushed. You will remain at a constant velocity until there is some sort of outside force that acts on the hovercraft.

E.) Some members riding the hovercraft were harder to stop on the hovercraft either because they weighed more, or because they were moving at a faster speed.