Josh H.
>>>>>>>>> { Bottle Rocket Science }
1. Rocket Q Focus:
- Question: Does the shape of the bottle influence its flight pattern?
-Answer: Yes, it has to do with the aerodynamics of bottle. If the bottle is more aerodynamic then the further it flies. That is why we have chosen a smooth bottle apposed to a more shapely bottle.
- Question: Do you need a lot of water to make it go further?
-Answer: No, too much water can actually make it go at a shorter distance due to the lack of momentum and the slight decrease in weight, because the bottle is so light it doesn't take that much force to push it far. After watching people's launches with multipul fails due to an inadequate amount of water, I realized that though we want it to go far it doesn't need the excessive force and weight of a high amount of water.
- Question: What does physics have to do with a bottle rocket?
-Answer: Everything fool! Seriously
{ Rocket Design } -
Overall Concept (Not included: Tape on neck of bottle)
{Bottle Breakdown}
1. An empty bottle used as a base and container for the water. The smooth and non-curvy shape of the bottle was ideal to create the least resistance and was specifically chosen for its light-weight and aerodynamic design while keeping in mind the mass of the water is much heavier than the rocket itself, thus needing less propulsion.
2. Top cap. Bottle cut in half and snipped at various points ion the bottom. The slits where designed for easier access to the egg and a soil hold on the base bottle, Because the rocket will not have any tension pulling the cap of of the base the contortion between the slits will also allow for a tight fit and easy removal.
3. 4 cardboard right angle pieces. The cardboard was chosen for its light but, durable structure. The pieces where then taped in such a fashion that the wings would be in a set position, this was done in order to keep a steady flight path.
4. Duct Tape for... taping stuff together. It was also used to add wight to the front of the bottle to help with a steady flight path. With the wight considered, we realized that the front must be heavier than the back, if not the aerodynamic design would be flawed and useless.
5. Stuffed animal guts (cotton) and paper towels. With Newtons 1st (an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an opposing force...) and Newtons 3rd law in mind (every action has an equal and opposite reaction), we realized without something to cushion the eggs they would be hit with the same amount of force as the rocket upon impact. For protection we wrapped the cotton in the paper towels to provide support sturdy enough to hold the egg in place while cushioning the blow. Keeping the egg from breaking. (This worked a lot better than expected.)
6. This is an egg.
{The Setup & Result}
I knew that the the light mass of bottle rocket would not need much force to go farther than the target distance, so we only filled it 750 ml.We also knew that when things come up they must come down, and it was the impact that we worried about so in order to reduce the chances of a break I set the height to 35°.
After about a half hour of grueling work and even with out a single test launch before the final one, absolutely everything went as planned. Why? Because were just that good.
{"What did you learn"}
Science.
I learned about Mass, Velocity, and Speed and the fact that the force of the impact can be softened with multiple light layers (such as cotton) thus letting our fragile egg survive a heavy impact because weight is a major player in the survival of the egg and the flight pattern of the rocket.
