Day One: Feb 28, 2011

Day one of our rocket launching! This is actually just a regular

2 liter bottle being launched into the air for about 3 seconds

Lab Day #2

Today was our second launch day and we got to launch 3 times. But our challenge today was to modify our rockets with at least one modification. We choose to create fins using plastic and a cone at the top with the second bottle that we had. To do this we had to cut and glue the pieces on during the first half of class. We were told in class to try to make the top of the rocket have more weight because of the water weighing down on the bottom of the rocket. So, we used what we had and made a big paper ball and planning to stick it in our cone at the top of our rocket. The first launch we used just fins and the cone. The second time we did the same thing and both times our rocket seemed to have more pressure and stayed in the air for about 4 seconds. When adding the ball in the cone for the third launch of the day the rocket spun in circles while in the air because of the weight of the ball. Adding the ball didn’t help, the rocket still stayed in the air for about 4 seconds.

Lab Day #1

Today our rocket lasted in the air for about 4 seconds. When we were on our forty-ish pump, the air pump disconnected from the tube so we had to stop there instead of continuing to pump and insert more air pressure. If it lasted in the air that long with that little pumping, I think that next time we should try for a hundred pumps and see how long it stays in the air then. If we do that then i expect it to stay at least 6-7 seconds in the air. Another factor was the type of bottle we used. We used a basic two liter bottle that was recommended but maybe if we were to use another large water bottle but in a different shape, the time in air for the rocket may be affected. Lastly the way we positioned the bottle was slightly slanted towards Midkiff; maybe tomorrow we will try to position it straight upward so instead of curving thru the air first in an arc, the rocket will be able to go straight in the air then curve downwards after it has reach its peak. This little adjustment might also affect the rocket's time in air.

Water Bottle Rocket

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=12&sid=98820a53-09ed-403a-b2da-129e24476e0f%40sessionmgr12&vid=7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=4229314

This website is really good for the water bottle rocket because it explains how the military used it in regular rockets and how the water pressure causes the rocket to shot. This also gives a step by step procedure on building the rocket. This is a little more complicated than a basic water bottle rocket but it still helps. 

Water Bottle Rocket Resource

The pdf/website given below is a link to an instructional guide to assembling a simple water bottle rocket with raw materials (a list of possible materials is given). It explains that bottle rockets use water and compressed air to propel the rocket upwards. This website can be useful to the assembly and construction of our water bottle rocket because it provides basic information on how to do so. This site also provides easy to use diagrams that assist you in adding (optional) fins, nose cones, or parachutes. The website explains why fins can greatly benefit or ruin your rocket, and why parachutes are for the more experienced rocket builders.

http://sections.asme.org/sandiego/Meetings/waterrocketconstruction.pdf

Assignment #1

http://polyplex.org/rockets/simulation/

This website is a great resource for our wattle bottle rocket activity because this resource helps you figure out what you want to know about how your rocket will fly. You fill in the information about your rocket and your launch and then it will give you the information about how long your flight time will be, the acceleration, a graph of what the flight will look like, and a lot more! (: