iMovie

Audrey, didn't you say that you uploaded the video? It's not here... :o

Test Launch

So far we have tested our rocket once! Our data was inconclusive, but judging by observation the rocket went very high. We are planning to test our rocket again, to get more valid results. We also repaired the fins which were damaged during the test; now they are stronger so they will not fall off and interfere with the rocket's flight. We are still planning on going for height instead of distance because our rocket's design is small and narrow to reduce the drag, which I think is better for going high instead of far. Our goal is to reduce as much of the drag as possible!!!

Research Summary

Here is the blueprint for our rocket. We are using fins in the shapes of trapezoids, made from cardboard. And the nose cone is a cone made from the back of a notebook. We are planning on using tape over the rocket.

summary day 3

I will post the pictures of today's progress either late tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. I'm at the hospital right now, I have no idea when I'll be home, and I can't get the pictures to upload right now..

Our nose cone...

As of right now, our nose cone will not be parabolic. I can't find a way to carve out the foam wihtout messing it up. If our rocket does not test well tomorrow at the launches, then other modifications will have to be made. Sorry Audrey..

Research Summary Day 2

Here are some pictures of our progress today. I didn't realize that we didn't have a clear image of our blueprint, so I will post that tomorrow. In class tomorrow, we have to work on the nose cone and "polishing" the bottle rocket.

Here's my rocket simulator homework.

	WaterRocketSim Prototype	Glenn Research Center
DATA SHEET
Flight One Flight Two Body: Payload Height (cm): 9 Nozzle Radius (cm): 2.5 Fairing: Yes Fairing radius (cm): 1.5 Nose Cone: Shape: Parabola Material: Balsa Propulsion: Water (liters): 1/3 L Pressure (KPa): 29.508 Fin Design: Fin Height: 2 Fin Shape: trapezoidal Number of Fins: 3 Fin Dimensions: 2 x 1.3 Body: Payload Height (cm):10 Nozzle Radius (cm): 3 Fairing: Yes Fairing radius (cm): 1.5 Nose Cone: Shape: Parabola Material: Foam Propulsion: Water (liters): 1/2L Pressure (KPa):40.55 Fin Design: Fin Height: 3 Fin Shape: trapezoidal Number of Fins: 4 Fin Dimensions: 3 x 2 Launch Stats: Max Altitude (m): 77 ft Max Velocity (m/s): 106 fps____ Launch Stats: Max Altitude (m): 73 ft Max Velocity (m/s):98 fps___

Research Summary Day 1 (cont.)

WaterRocketSim Prototype

Glenn
Research
Center

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DATA SHEET

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Flight One	Flight Two
Body: Payload Height (cm):  10 Nozzle Radius (cm): 4 Fairing: Yes Fairing radius (cm): 2 Nose Cone: Shape: Parabolic Material: Solid Balsa Propulsion: Water (liters): 1.995 Pressure (KPa): 27.951 Fin Design: Fin Height: 2.5 Fin Shape: elliptical Number of Fins: 3 Fin Dimensions: 2.5 by 2.5	Body: Payload Height (cm): 2 Nozzle Radius (cm): 4 Fairing: Yes Fairing radius (cm): 4 Nose Cone: Shape: Conical Material: Solid Foam Propulsion: Water (liters): 10.5 Pressure (KPa): 28.147 Fin Design: Fin Height: 3 Fin Shape: elliptical Number of Fins: 4 Fin Dimensions: 3 by 3
Launch Stats: Max Altitude (m): 3.3528 Max Velocity (m/s): 6.7056 Here is my data from the simulation. I don't know how to post it as a document, so I'm sorry if it doesn't display properly..	Launch Stats: Max Altitude (m): 18.28800 Max Velocity (m/s): 24.0792

Research Summary Day 1

For the body of the rocket I got a Perier bottle and a fruit flavored water bottle from Giant Eagle.

The forces that act on a rocket are thrust, lift, drag, and weight. Thrust is the force that pushes the object upward. It can be described with Newtons Third Law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Lift is another force which causes the rocket to go forward, and it combats drag. Drag, also known as air resistance, is the force that pulls a rocket downwards. Weight is the mass of the object. If the rocket has too much weight it won't go far or high, but if it doesn't have enough weight it will be unstable. When designing the rocket I considered all of these forces. Here is a picture which shows how the forces affect a rocket:

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Bottle rockets have 3 main parts: the body, the fins, and the nose cone. 

The Body--The bottle should be as aerodynamic as possible. For this the Perrier bottles work really well. They are skinny and curved with a thinner nozzle, which will make the rocket more aerodynamic and able to "cut" through the air. Another bottle with a similar shape is the Fruition bottles. Also, you can use sandpaper to make the bottle as smooth as possible. 

The Fins-- These are to make the rocket more stable.The best amount of fins to add is three because they keep the rocket stable without adding too much weight. We decided to (maybe) use cardboard for the fins. We also decided to test both the triangle shape fins and the four-sided shape fins.

The Nose Cone- I found out that a parabolic (curved) shaped nose cone works the best for rockets that are at subsonic speeds, because it reduces drag. 

^^^So there's my research for day 1!!