As part of their Train Club activities, Eagle Creek Academy students recently made simple steam-powered boats using a plastic water bottle, approximately 12 inches of 1/8″ copper tube, and a tea light candle.
The students cut water bottles in half lengthwise to create the boat hull, then bent the copper tubing around a pencil to create a circular coil in the center.
The copper ‘engine? was then fitted into the boat hull and shaped so both open ends of the copper tubing were below the water line of the boat.
The tube was filled with water, the candle lit and set below the coiled section of copper tubing. The candle heated the copper tube.
When the water boiled, it turned from a liquid state to a gas state, expanding and causing a pulse that simulates a jet engine pushing the boat through the water.
Eagle Creek Academy is located at 3739 Kern Road in Oakland Township.
For more information, call the school at (248)475-9999 or pay them a visit on the web at www.eaglecreekacademy.com.