This small boat imitates a steamboat and is equipped in two nozzles which are connected and are placed in water when the steamboat floats. You have to pour water into one of the nozzles till it flows out at the other end.

You need to light the candle provided in the set and place it in the ship in such a manner that it warms the little container inside. This metal strip has been soldered to the nozzles containing water. When we place the boat on the water and wait for a moment the boat will start to move with a characteristic 'puff, puff' sound.

The boat moves because the water in the tank starts to boil and is consequently expelled under pressure in form of steam from the nozzles. The water is sucked in from all directions, while the steam is removed (with considerable velocity) always towards back. That is why the steamboat sails forward.

A steamboat exemplifies several laws of physics and physical phenomena.

1) Energy transformation. Thermal energy is transformed into mechanical energy, as in a real steamboat. The heat released by a candle burning (by paraffin) is used to heat water. Boiling water turns into steam, which quickly fills in the small container at a considerable pressure. The pressure forces the steam out of the container at some velocity. The boat moves forward doing mechanical work. Obviously there is some energy loss due to releasing of heat to the surroundings.

2) Law of conservation of momentum. The momentum with which steam is pushed out of the nozzle is equal to the momentum of the boat.

3) Newton's 2nd law of motion for bodies whose mass undergoes a change is also illustrated. The change of the boat's momentum in time becomes the boat's driving force. The change of momentum is supplemented with the change of velocity and mass of the steam released in the direction opposite to the direction of the boat movement, as in the case of a jet car.

4) After gaining momentum, the steamboat makes its way in uniform motion. It is because of resistance forces, and in this very case it is caused by the force of viscosity which is proportional to the velocity.

F_vis = Cηv

where C is characteristic size of the hydrodynamic shape (the "drag coefficient"), η -is coefficient of viscosity and v is the velocity of the boat.