This is the rocket log, it was a required part of the rocket project. Each day we had to record an entry for it in our science journal. We were assigned to reflect on what we did to our rocket that day, changes we made, and how this affected the rocket.
Rocket Log:
Day 1, 10/9/12: Brittan and I planned out and sketched what we hope our rocket will end up looking and functioning like.
Day 2, 10/10/12: Brittan and I started constructing our rocket. We cut out and sanded our smart bottles in preparation for gluing them. We also dipped the ends of some of the smart bottles in boiling water so the ends would contract.
Day 3, 10/11/12: We sanded down the smart bottles even more and glued three of them together with caulk glue.
Day 4, 10/15/12: We sanded and cut our main bottle (large diet coke bottle). Then we glued the three smart bottles to the main bottle with caulk glue. We also cut out and measured our wings in the lexan glass.
Day 5, 10/16/12: Day 5 was yet another sanding day. We sanded down the wings, and we briefly thought of parachute deployment ideas.
Day 6, 10/17/12: We cut out the pieces of wood, and glued the three wings to the pieces of wood.
Day 7, 10/18/12: Brittan and I glued the wings to the main bottle and held them on with rubber bands. We stupidly put way to much caulk glue and the pieces of wood the wings were attached to wouldn’t stay, so we ended up duct taping them on. We also started to cut out the parachute.
Day 8, 10/19/12: On day 8 of working on the rockets it was a test-launching day. We didn’t launch our rocket because the parachute wasn’t even assembled yet, and it wasn’t worth risking all of our hard work.
Day 9, 10/22/12: We changed our rocket’s name from the glue wizard to the super hydraulic instantaneous transportation. We also attached the strings to our parachute (tiny round white trash bag), and then we attached the parachute to the inside of the rocket.
Day 10, 10/23/12: Finally finished the super hydraulic instantaneous transportation all that was left to do was launch it at exhibition.
Rocket Log:
Day 1, 10/9/12: Brittan and I planned out and sketched what we hope our rocket will end up looking and functioning like.
Day 2, 10/10/12: Brittan and I started constructing our rocket. We cut out and sanded our smart bottles in preparation for gluing them. We also dipped the ends of some of the smart bottles in boiling water so the ends would contract.
Day 3, 10/11/12: We sanded down the smart bottles even more and glued three of them together with caulk glue.
Day 4, 10/15/12: We sanded and cut our main bottle (large diet coke bottle). Then we glued the three smart bottles to the main bottle with caulk glue. We also cut out and measured our wings in the lexan glass.
Day 5, 10/16/12: Day 5 was yet another sanding day. We sanded down the wings, and we briefly thought of parachute deployment ideas.
Day 6, 10/17/12: We cut out the pieces of wood, and glued the three wings to the pieces of wood.
Day 7, 10/18/12: Brittan and I glued the wings to the main bottle and held them on with rubber bands. We stupidly put way to much caulk glue and the pieces of wood the wings were attached to wouldn’t stay, so we ended up duct taping them on. We also started to cut out the parachute.
Day 8, 10/19/12: On day 8 of working on the rockets it was a test-launching day. We didn’t launch our rocket because the parachute wasn’t even assembled yet, and it wasn’t worth risking all of our hard work.
Day 9, 10/22/12: We changed our rocket’s name from the glue wizard to the super hydraulic instantaneous transportation. We also attached the strings to our parachute (tiny round white trash bag), and then we attached the parachute to the inside of the rocket.
Day 10, 10/23/12: Finally finished the super hydraulic instantaneous transportation all that was left to do was launch it at exhibition.
The Science Behind The Rocket
The first thing our rocket does is launch off the launch pad. This is when newton’s first law comes into play. While the rocket is sitting on the launch pad newton’s first law tells us that the rocket won’t move unless acted upon by another force. The force that dose act upon it is the combination of water and pressurized air that propel the rocket upward. His law also says that the object in motion shall stay in motion until acted upon by an outside force. The forces that cause the rocket to slow down and fall are air resistance and gravity. The air resistance slows the rocket over time. Gravity pulls the rocket back towards earth.
Newton’s second law also applies to the launch of the rocket. His second law states that f=ma. F=ma means force =Mass times Acceleration. This means the mass of the rocket in kilograms multiplied by the acceleration of the rocket would give you the force exerted down ward. Newton’s third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This applies to the launch of the rocket. When the rocket takes off from the launch pad both the rocket and the Launchpad experience strong forces. The rocket experiences a strong upward force. The Launchpad experiences a strong downward force. Newton’s third law tells us that these forces are equal to each other. Launching/ Creation of our Rockets!
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ROCKET BOTTLE PROJECT REFLECTION
The rocket reflection was very challenging yet amazingly creative and fun, also at many times frustrating. The project culminated in an exhibition, which presented my peers hard work and imaginations. A majority of the rockets successfully launched, some being spectacular in their flight and arced while other hit the sky the in various approaches. My partner and I faced many challenges during the process of building the rocket. Our measurements were off at one point thus forcing us to duct tape two of the rockets wings on. This resulted in the rocket being less sturdy and reliable. We also did not plan our time well enough and had to create the rocket’s parachute on the last workday of project work time. We ended up also having to duct tape the parachute in the rocket. As a result the parachute did not deploy properly. Despite these set backs our rocket launched successfully, but did not perform as well as planned. The best aspect about exhibiting our rocket was the rocket actually launched my partner and I was not certain it would launch successfully. If I had to do it over again, we would have more patience in designing and building our rocket. Also we would have not procrastinated on creating the parachute so we could have tested our rocket and made alterations according to the test launch. I regret not having more time to construct the parachute so it would have deployed successfully. If I were to design the rocket again, I would make the wings smaller for more momentum and attach the winds to the rocket in a better fashion. I at least wish I had glues the wings on. Also I could have ensured the cone fit better that sat on top of the rocket to make the rocket more stable and enable easier deployment of the parachute. At the exhibition we had a complete fail in our haste, we accidently twisted the parachute strings. This kept our parachute from deploying, While the parachute didn’t deploy our rocket still landed safely almost unharmed. It was thrilling to see thirty plus rockets built by peer’s blast off. Everyone’s rocket had a unique design and name. Some rockets being serious and other were humorous like the Mary Poppins. While it was hard to predict how well each rocket would do, it was obvious that some teams had spent more time than other’s building their rockets. Overall the exhibition was entertaining and the hard work put into the rockets paid off. Great Project! Good Fun! |