I learned that there's a limit to the amount of weight you can put in your cone. After watching other people's rockets with absolutely no weight in the cone fail miserably, I thought that a lot of weight in the cone was the key to a smooth and successful launch. Every test launch I added a little more weight thinking it would help it fly straighter and smoother. Every time the rocket seemed a little more off balance when flying, but what I didn't realize, was that what was affecting the rocket was not the weather or lack of weight but that there was too much weight. On the final launch I added even more weight resulting in the sad fail of my rocket. Then and only then did I realize my cone weight was the reason of it's fail.
Monday, January 14, 2013
What I learned
I learned that there's a limit to the amount of weight you can put in your cone. After watching other people's rockets with absolutely no weight in the cone fail miserably, I thought that a lot of weight in the cone was the key to a smooth and successful launch. Every test launch I added a little more weight thinking it would help it fly straighter and smoother. Every time the rocket seemed a little more off balance when flying, but what I didn't realize, was that what was affecting the rocket was not the weather or lack of weight but that there was too much weight. On the final launch I added even more weight resulting in the sad fail of my rocket. Then and only then did I realize my cone weight was the reason of it's fail.
Results
During all of its test launches it surpassed the 30 meter requirements, however on the actual final launch it barely went under the 30 meter limit.
During the test launches the egg survived once, but failed on the actual final launch.
After doing multiple test launches and discussing with my classmates, I learned a lower angle helped the rocket go further. I did a 35 degree angle.
After doing multiple test launches and discussing with my classmates, I learned less water was actually more helpful with the rockets distance. I used 600 ml of water.
I believe the reason my final launch was my worst was because of the change in weight of the rocket's cone I made. I knew that there needed to be weight in the top for the rocket not to fly over, but I didn't realize that too much weight would cause the rocket to be off balance and not fly smooth.
During the test launches the egg survived once, but failed on the actual final launch.
After doing multiple test launches and discussing with my classmates, I learned a lower angle helped the rocket go further. I did a 35 degree angle.
After doing multiple test launches and discussing with my classmates, I learned less water was actually more helpful with the rockets distance. I used 600 ml of water.
I believe the reason my final launch was my worst was because of the change in weight of the rocket's cone I made. I knew that there needed to be weight in the top for the rocket not to fly over, but I didn't realize that too much weight would cause the rocket to be off balance and not fly smooth.
Egg Protection
My attempt for protecting the egg was lining the cap with two layers of bubble wrap, trying to have less of a shock to the egg from the impact. I lined to top of the cap with three layers of bubble wrap and cotton balls.
Then I took the plastic bag covered egg and rolled it in toilet paper before putting it in the rocket cap with more cotton balls.
Physics of Rocket
The rocket works by it being filled with a certain amount of water before being inserted into a launcher. It's secured by a pin going through the top of the cap. Once it's secure air is pumped to a certain amount of pressure.
My idea for the parachute was for it to somehow eject and safely land the rocket, helping to protect the egg. The parachute itself was successful but for it to eject, the cap (which was suppose to hold the egg) had to come off for it to drop out. So I wasn't able to use it for lack of protecting the egg.
Once the pressure is set, the pin is pulled and released, which in result causes the rocket to be pushed out from the launcher, spraying out water and shooting it up from the launcher, as shown the diagram below.
I tried to take advantage of the laws of physics by making a parachute from a garbage bag, duct tape, string, and a key ring.
I cut the garbage bag into a large circle with a median sized hole in the middle. Then I folded tape over eight equal sides of the circle and hole punched them. I tied equal lengths of string to each hole and tied them all to the key ring.
The Making of my Rocket
First I started out with two empty two liter bottles.
Using scissors I measured 6 inches from cap up and cut that off to use as the cone.
I took the cap from the nose bottle and put silly putty and covered pennies in it for weight.
Then using a piece of a cardboard box I cut three identical triangular fins and covered them in two layers of
duct tape.
Then I duct taped the three fins onto the still fully intact bottle.
Q Focus - Rockets
Top three questions:
1. What's the best way to build a successful rocket?
2. Is it better to have a weight on the nose for the rocket to fly more successful?
3. Would bigger wings help the rocket soar for a longer period of time?
This project answered my second question, yes you need some weight on the nose so the rocket wont just fly backwards but too much weight will make the rocket not weighted properly and result in a less successful launch. I found this out through experimenting with the nose weight from the test launches to the final launch.
1. What's the best way to build a successful rocket?
2. Is it better to have a weight on the nose for the rocket to fly more successful?
3. Would bigger wings help the rocket soar for a longer period of time?
This project answered my second question, yes you need some weight on the nose so the rocket wont just fly backwards but too much weight will make the rocket not weighted properly and result in a less successful launch. I found this out through experimenting with the nose weight from the test launches to the final launch.
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