It Doesn't Take a Rocket Scientist: Part 2

Overview

Objectives/Goals My goal was to learn about how far a rocket flies, depending on several variables. Do rocket trajectory angle, amount of weight, and distribution of weight affect how far a rocket flies? What happens to a rocket's flight distance when you change these components? Methods/Materials My materials included cardboard tubes, sheet plastic, foam tape, an air compressor, PVC pipe to make an air chamber and several other small items. First i had to make an air chamber out of PVC pipe to get a standard amount of air to launch each of my rockets. Then I made rockets out of cardboard tubes, and with plastic fins. I used foam tape to create rockets with high or low weight, and with the weight either at the top only, or distributed between the top and middle of the rocket. I launched the rockets at each of three launch angles. Results The rockets with the 45 angle flew the farthest. The Low / Distributed weight flew rockets flew farther than rockets with other settings of weight. Conclusions/Discussion In my background research, I found that thrust, drag and gravity have a lot to do with how far a rocket will fly. I was right about the 45 degree angle with the low weight being the one that flew the farthest, but i was wrong about the rocket with the weight split between the top and bottom flying the farthest.

Competition history

• CSEF 2006 Applied Mechanics/ Structures & Mechanisms/ Manufacturing · Entry J0202

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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