Hannah's Build-It
Things that fly!
Materials:
-30 cm of 1/2 inch pipe insulation
-3 8 inch zip ties
-1 meter of string
-Rubber bands
-9 cm x 9 cm Square of cardstock
-Yardstick
-Medium sized washer
-Protractor printable
-Binder clip
How to build your own foam rocket:
1. Tie a section of the 1 meter string into a large loop.
2. Connect the rubber band to the loop with a zip tie and cut off any extra length on the ziptie.
3. Put the string loop inside the tubing, then take off the plastic strip attached to the glue, and press the tube together bonding the glue.
4. Place the second zip tie on the outside of the tube and tighten it above where the zip tie inside the tube is.
5. Cut your cardstock square into two equal sized triangles, and cut a slit halfway down each one (one slit should come from the top of one and the other should come from the bottom, be sure they are made equal in distance)
6. Slide the two slits together to create the tail fins for the rocket.
7. Cut four 9 cm clit into the tube, starting along the sealed side. Make a second slit directly on the opposite side, followed by two more slits evenly made on the other sides.
8. Slide the tail fins into the slits you have just cut and close off the bottom of the rocket with the last zip tie.
9. Cut out and then fold the protractor printable in half at 90 degrees and set on top of yardstick.
10. Tie washer onto the 40 cm string and clamp the non-washer side on the yardstick with the binder clip so that it falls at 0 degrees when the yardstick is parallel to the floor.
Making a foam rocket SOAR
The homemade protractor/launcher. The rocket is placed via the rubber band on the end of the meter stick and then launched at whichever angle desired!
The launch of the rocket at 20 degrees, being pulled back 30 cm and launched 90 cm from the ground.
Launching the rockets has many variables. The amount the rocket is pulled back from the meter stick, how far it is launched from the ground, and what angle it is launched from-all of which independent. When the rocket is pulled back from the meter stick and is preparing to launch, it has elastic potential energy. As you release the rocket the energy turns from potential to kinetic energy. This forces the rocket through the air and across the room. The rocket is forced up in the air as it flies until the inertia is affected by an unbalanced force of gravity, causing it to travel downwards, ultimately causing the arc of flight that the rocket travels in.
So what's the big deal?
Above is a graph of the rocket's distance traveled at each angle launched. If you look closely our rocket is best launched at 0 degrees, this would give the rocket less of an arc while traveling as well.