The hovercraft was invented in 1955 by the British scientist Christopher Cockerell. He decided to solve a problem that had been baffling scientists for 80 years. In the 1870s, the British engineer John Thornycroft began to design a ship that moved along on a cushion of air to reduce friction between the ship’s hull and the water. He was unable to work out how to contain the cushion of air under the boat, but Cockerell solved this by attaching a rubber skirt to the bottom of the boat. This idea worked perfectly and the hovercraft was born.
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Fact File A boat is a pretty large object, yet it floats easily on the surface of water. This is because the fluid actually holds it up. The liquid offsets the force of gravity. If you want to feel this force, just take a blown-up beach ball into water. The water seems to push up the ball. |
Picture Credit : Google