Longest Test Launch | |
File Size: | 540 kb |
File Type: | m4v |
Longest Competition Launch | |
File Size: | 291 kb |
File Type: | m4v |
What I did.
For this project we got to choose our group, so I worked with Sonia Singhal and Sandra Park; our group was called Brown-eyed girls. We did a lot more planning for the water bottle rocket than the other 2 projects. Our water bottle rocket had 3 fins (made from sturdy folders), 2 parachutes (made from large garbage bags), and a party hat for a nose cone. I was very please with our fins, they were very durable and the perfect shape. It took us quite a while to create the water bottle rocket, but the kinda end result work well. Our rocket, got stuck on the roof after it stayed in the air for 30.6 seconds (which was very close to Mr. Dolinger's highest time this year, which caused great problems on competition day.
What I learned.
I learned that in order to make a great rocket it takes a long time and a lot of patiences. We were very happy with the performance of our rocket when we tested it, but after it felled from the roof, there was a considerable amount of damage. When we launched it on competition day, it barely stayed in the air for 7 seconds, a drastic difference from 30 seconds. Since we only recovered our rocket on competition day, we had a rush to get it finish, and create a new fin that wasn't proportionate to the other fins. There was also damage to the main bottle. I believe that the fins contributed most the the failure of our rocket on competition day; they were not
Inertia
Inertia is Newton's First Law. The definition of inertia is that a body in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force, and a body at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. If you threw a ball in space, it would continue to roll on forever, but in Earth it's different. If you were riding a skateboard, you would continue to ride on it until it hits a bump in the road, that why you have to keep pushing the skateboard with your feet. The amount of inertia an object has is proportionate to it's mass. Inertia applies to the water bottle rocket because after it was launched, it kept going into the air, until it was easier for it to go back down. Watch this NASA video to get a better understand of what inertia is.
The Law of Inertia: Newton's First Law | |
File Size: | 9571 kb |
File Type: | mov |
F=ma
F=ma is the abbreviation of force=mass x acceleration. This translates into force is proportionate to the mass and velocity of an object. For instance if you kicked a ball and it only went a few feet, you could change the force by changing the acceleration. Kicking the ball harder, increases the force, thus making the ball go faster. Say, you think that the the ball went to far the second time, you can kick the with less force, thus making the ball go slower. If there's another ball, that has a larger mass and you want it to go the same speed as the smaller ball, you have to kick it with even more force. F=ma applies to the water bottle rocket because depending on how much water we put in allowed us to go faster and higher. Watch this NASA video to get a better understanding of what Newton's second law of motion is.
F=ma: Newton's Second Law | |
File Size: | 8014 kb |
File Type: | mov |
Action and Reaction
The definition of Newton's third law is for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force. For instance, if you have a dog on a leash and you want him to stop moving, you would pulled the opposite way. They same thing happens when you push on a wall. Oddly enough, the wall pushes back. Without the wall pushing back, your hand would go through the wall! Another example of action and reaction are rockets. When a rocket's pushes out exhaust the reaction is the rocket pushing forward. Action and reaction applies to the water bottle rocket because when the pressurized water came out, the rocket pushed forward and the reaction. Watch this Nasa video to get a better understanding of what Newton's third law of motion is.
Action and Reaction: Newton's Third Law | |
File Size: | 9286 kb |
File Type: | mov |
Fluid Friction
Fluid friction happens when an solid object travels through a liquid or a gas. This type of friction can also be called viscosity. An example of fluid friction is surfing, when you're surfing, you are pushing the water aside with you surf board, thus creating a lot of friction that is very hard to beat. Fluid friction can sometimes be good. Mechanics coat gears in oil so that the gears will move smother instead of possible being damaging to the gears. Another example of fluid friction is baking. Fluid friction applies to the concept because the rocket had to cut through the air, this is why we added a nose cone. When you stirring a bowl of batter, it can be very hard depending on the viscosity of the batter.
Sliding Friction
Sliding friction is when two solid objects slide against each other. Let's say there is a heavy box on the ground and you want to push it to another location. You can't easily push the box because of sliding friction, but the more force you apply on the box the more it'll move. Another example of sliding friction is sledding. Friction is the reason why you have to push the sled to gain speed before you can enjoy the ride down. Without pushing the sled with enough force, the sled wouldn't go anywhere. Sliding friction applies to the water bottle rocket because on the way up, our nose cone was forced down and when there was no force anymore it slide up releasing the parachutes.
Rolling Friction
If there was no rolling friction, a ball would continue to roll on forever. I order for a wheel to move efficiently, it needs some friction so that it would slip. The ball needs the catch on the the ground so that you can easily control the speed, direction, and movement of the ball. Depending on the elasticity of the ball and the surface, they will both form in the their space. For instance, if you rolled a ball on the sand, the ball will create deformations in the sand as it goes. Rolling friction applies to the water bottle rocket because when our parachutes came out, depending o