How will the size of wings/fins contribute to how far the rocket goes?

Prediction: If the wings/fins are small then the rocket will go further because they are lighter.

How far the rocket goes depends on the wing size

Wing Size (cm) How far the rocket went (meters) Average length
(meters)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
10 90 95 100 95
15 75 113 57 81.67
20 41 45 51 45.67
Source: Allison, and Jess, May, 2010

Controlled Variables:
– 4 fins
– 2 liter bottle on bottom
– top cap on
– 20 oz bottle on top
– size of fins
– Right triangle fins
– same height (10 cm)
Materials Needed: 10 cm
– 2 liter pop bottle 10 cm
– 20oz pop bottle 15 cm
– roll of duck tape 10 cm
– launcher 10 cm
– meter sticks
Procedure:
– cut out different sized wings, 4 wings per size 20 cm
– attach the top bottle to the bottom bottle with duck tape (bottom of bottle connected to
bottom of bottle)
– attach fins with duck tape (same size) to the lower half of the bottom bottle
– put 100 ml of water in top bottle
– make sure the top cap is on
– put 1000 ml of water in the bottom bottle
– place bottom bottle on the launcher
– launch
– record how far it went
– take fins off the rocket if possible, if not then build new rocket
– place new fins on
Conclusion:

Our data supports our hypothesis. The smaller the wings the further the rocket launches. This is
shown by the experiment we did. When the wing size was 10 by 10 centimeters (triangle) then it
launched an average of 95 meters compared to when the wing size was 20 by 20 centimeters (triangle)
and it launched an average of 45.67 meters. If I was to do this experiment again I would make three
different rockets with different wing sizes instead of just changing the wings, because I think that the
data would be more accurate because the bottles were breaking by the time we got to the last size. Also
if I could I would try to launch in the same weather, like wind in the same direction. This would make
the data more accurate because the conditions that the rocket was launched at would be the same.
Finally, this experiment was a success! The smaller the wings the better, do not have big wings if you
want to have a far launch.