Q: How does the weight of the 20 oz bottle filled with water affect the distance the rocket travels?

If the 20 oz bottle is filled with water, then the rocket will travel a smaller distance than the original
weight, because the weight of the water in the 20 oz bottle will cause it to point towards the ground due
to its weight.
Does the distance traveled by the rocket depend on the weight in the 20 oz bottle?
Weight(ounces) Distance(meters) Average Distance
(meters)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
200 mL(control) 86 92 100 92.67

300 mL 82 75 85 80.67

500 mL 72 68 64 68

Source: Jeremiah Morren and Robert Dykstra, May 2010

Materials:
1. One two liter bottle
2. One twenty ounce bottle
3. Tape to secure the two bottles together
4. The launch base that is located to the closet point to the ground
5. Water
6. measuring cup
7. card board(for the wings

Procedure:
1. Fill the body and the nose of the rocket to the correct measurement of water for the control.
2. Place the rocket onto the launch base as your instructor showed you and test the control rocket.
Take observations and collect data.
3. Then empty the nose of the rocket, and fill it in to the correct measurement that you desire to
test it. Remember to refill the body of the rocket to the same measurement as you did before.
4. Again place the rocket onto the launch base as your instructor showed you and test the altered
rocket. Take observations and collect data. Do this for three trials.
5. When completed with the data collecting, analyze the control rocket and altered rocket's data.
Check to see any differences between the controlled rocket and the altered rocket.
 Weight of the Nose
100

90

80
Average Distance(meters)

70

60

50
Column B
40

30

20

10

0
150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550
Water Amount(mL)

Conclusion:
When completing this experiment, I found that the data made our entire hypothesis conclusive
and the data supported our assumption. Looking at the graph above, the bottle that has more water in
the top, traveled a much farther distance than its predecessor. In the controlled experiment, it traveled
approximately 92 meters, in the trials after the previous one, none of the altered rockets reached 90
meters. In our experiments there were a few things we could have changed to make our data more
accurate, for example, we should have been much faster when preparing the rocket into the launch
base. For, there were a few attempts that ended in failure, due to the release of the water out of the end
of the rocket of we took too long to launch it.