Make an Air Pump into a Vacuum Cleaner Science Project

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Make an Air Pump into a Vacuum Cleaner Science Project
by Jeanette Cain

The air pump project shows the basic principles of a vacuum cleaner. You may need to read Hydraulic Lifter to view or review the meaning of hydraulic machines.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

FOR THE AIR PUMP

1. Large plastic bottle
2. Scissors
3. Hammer
4. Small Nails
5. Dowel or wooden stick
6. Ruler card
7. Tape
8. Ping-pong ball

FIRST, about 1/3 up from the bottom of the plastic bottle, cut around it. Cut a slit down the bottle's bottom part to allow it to slide INSIDE the top part. You will need an adult to help you nail the bottle's bottom to the end of a dowel or wooden stick. This is the piston for your air pump.

NEXT, near the neck of the bottle, cut a hole about 1/2 inch across, and then cut a piece of card that measures 3/4 X 3/4 inches. Tape one edge of the card to the bottle; this will form a flap over the hole. Then drop a ping-pong ball into the bottle's top part so that it rests in the bottle neck. Push the bottom part of the bottle, which is your piston, into the top part, which is the cylinder.

THEN, move the piston in and out: sucking air into the bottle and out of the hole. How do both the valves work? The flap you made should automatically close when pulling the piston out.

FOR THE VACUUM CLEANER

1. String
2. Tissue paper
3. Glue

FIRST, make another air pump as above, but this time, DO NOT make the card flap. Tape the string to the ball and feed this through the neck of the bottle, then tape it down so that the ball is held close to the neck. NEXT, make a tissue paper bag. Glue the bag over the hole close to the bottle's neck. Air from the pump will go through the bag, and whatever the vacuum picks up should be trapped.

THEN, try picking up tiny bits of paper by pulling the piston out sharply. This should suck up the tiny paper bits into the bottle. Gently push the piston back in to pump the paper into the bag.