Can moving air push a paper boat?

A little paper boat rests on the water, with its folded sides poking up. Perhaps you have felt a puff of breath on your hand. Can moving air push a paper boat?

Yes, it can! Let's follow a gentle puff from a child's mouth to a paper boat in a shallow tray of water. The puff gives the boat a little nudge without a finger touching it.

Air is the invisible stuff all around you. Even though you cannot see air, it takes up space. Air fills a balloon when someone blows into it, making the balloon grow round.

When air moves along, we call it wind. Outside, wind can flutter a leaf or lift a flag. A child blowing gently makes a small stream of moving air, like a tiny wind.

The child blows toward the boat from one side of the tray. That sends air toward the folded paper sticking up above the water. Those paper sides give the moving air something to press against.

Which way do you think the boat will go when the puff reaches it: toward the child's mouth, or away? There is a quiet moment before the puff arrives. The boat still rests on the water.

Away it goes! The moving air presses against the paper and gives the boat a push. That push can start the boat moving in the direction the child blows.

A little paper boat is light, so a gentle push can move it. The water holds the boat up while letting it slide across the top. The boat does not need wheels to travel across its tiny pond.

When the child stops blowing, the boat may keep gliding for a little while. The water pushes back against the moving boat and slows it down. Without another puff of wind, the boat soon rests again.

Air, wind, a push on the paper, a glide across water, then a slow stop. Yes, moving air can push a paper boat because it presses against the paper and makes the boat move.

Even a breath as gentle as yours can send a little paper boat on a quiet journey.