Lab Report

Rocket Experiment 2017

Chananan Sanamchai 5861014

Nitinan Yotsakulsate 5861311
Siriwan Faimongkhon 5761136
Lalida Suriyanonrin 5861309
Panisa Rawdloy 5861090

Conceptual Physics
Mahidol University International Demonstration School
Lab Instructor - PWin, PFai, PRick
Semester 2, 2017
Lecture Instructor - Mr. Gopinath Subramanian

Objective
 This experiment is the integration of Physics and Chemistry lessons. For physics, there are
about the aerodynamic of the rocket and the angle of the launcher which will make the rocket land
in the exact 20 meters. The angle set for launching is not always consistent, it depends on the
hardness and the direction of the wind. The launcher position will depends on the wind direction
and the angle adjust will base on how hard the winds blowing. Chemistry come along in the
chemical reaction part, which happens between vinegar and baking soda. Baking soda is base and
vinegar is acid. They will act as the rockets fuel further on. The amount of chemical uses will base
on the balance calculation of our reactants, the number which will then make the rocket land in the
right place. Additionally, the objective of this project is to understand applications of Newton's
Third Law of Motion and also identify action-reaction force pairs.

Materials

1. Rocket

a. Plastic bottle b. Flute board

c. Cardboard d. Plastic cork

e. Ballon f. Rubber stopper

g. Wine cork h. Color sprays

2. Launcher

a. PVC pipes

3. Tissue paper (thin)

4. Scale
5. Graduated cylinder

6. Measuring spoon

7. Stapler
 8. 5% Vinegar

9. Baking soda
 10. Glue gun and hot glue

7. Plasticine
8. Pingpong ball (in half)

Set-up
Background/Introduction

Have you ever heard about Apollo 11? It was the first spacecraft that landed first two human
on the lunar. Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface and described the event as "one small step
for a man, one giant leap for mankind", from that day he had become a hero and inspire so many
people. Today we are going to take a step and learn to make our own rocket. We will balance and
control our chemicals so that the rocket hits the target beautifully. The spacecraft lift up from the
ground by the rocket engines. The spacecraft require a force(chemical reaction between the fuel and
an oxidizer which then burns and produces heat) to help it overcome the force of gravity and climb
into orbit. But in this experiment our chemical will be some simple substances easily found in the
kitchen, baking soda and vinegar. Our rocket will be made with a strong plastic bottle with cool
decorations and three fins, to be able to face the air resistance. When you think of mixing vinegar
and baking soda, you probably recall homemade volcano demonstration at school,or stinking
messes in the kitchen sink at home. Have you ever mix the chemicals and learn about their reaction?
The experiment in this project uses Vinegar and baking soda to observed their reaction. Vinegar is
an acidic liquid made by fermenting any fluid that contains ethanol. Baking soda, sodium hydrogen
carbonate, Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder.
Vinegar is an acidic acid and baking soda is base, when mixed together carbon dioxide gas will be
release. NaHCO3(s) + CH3COOH(l) CO2(g) + H2O(l) + Na+(aq) + CH3COO-(aq)or the common
way to write this reaction is:
NaHCO3 + HC2H3O2 NaC2H3O2 + H2O + CO2 In this experiment instead of using
rocket fuel we uses baking soda(sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar(acetic acid) to make a different
kind of chemical reaction that can launch a small-plastic bottle rocket and at the same time consider
the best amount of substances, the rockets mass, design, the launcher and the angle shooting.
Discussion of Physics concepts

Newtons First Law of Motion

 Newtons first law of motion state that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion
stays in motion with the same velocity and in the same direction unless acted upon by an
unbalanced force. Velocity is the speed of an object in a specified direction and an unbalanced force
is an external force that changes the motion of an object. When an object is at rest or moving at a
constant velocity, all the forces action on it is balanced. Newtons first law of motion is also referred
to was the law of inertia. Inertia is the resistance of an object to change in motion. To say it in an
easy way, objects tend to keep doing what they are already doing.

Launching a rocket is a good example of this principle. Before the rocket is launched, the
velocity is zero and the rocket stay at rest. When the chemical start reacting, the thrust from
chemical reaction creates an additional force opposed to the weight. When the thrust is greater than
the weight, the rocket begins to rise.

Newtons Second Law of Motion

Newtons Second Law of Motion states that the rate of

change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the
force applied and this change in momentum takes place in the
direction of the applied force. It can also be write in a formula,

F = ma

where F is the net force applied, m is the mass of the body, and a
is the bodys acceleration. Therefore, the net force applied to a
body produces a proportional acceleration. How rapidly a rocket
increases speed off the launch pad is called acceleration. Rocket
acceleration equals the force applied, divided by the mass of the
rocket a = F/m. As forced is increased, acceleration increases.
As mass is increased, the acceleration decreases.

Newtons Third Law of Motion

Newtons Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction. This means that for every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size but opposite in
direction. Whenever an object pushes another object, it gets pushed back in the opposite direction
equally. When you hit a table with your hand, the table hits you back with a force equal to the force
you applied to it.

A rocket is able to lift off the pad because the acceleration imparted by the expanding
exhaust is able to overcome the inertia of the rocket sitting on the pad. The rockets action is to push
down in the launcher with the force of chemical reaction and the reaction is that the pad pushes the
rocket upwards with an
equal force.

Freefall

A free falling object is an object that is falling under the sole influence of gravity. Any object
that is being acted upon only by the force of gravity is said to be in a state of free fall. There are two
important motion characteristics that are true of free-falling objects: free falling objects do not
encounter air resistance and free-falling objects accelerate downwards at the rate of gravity. An
object that falls through a vacuum is subjected to only one external force, the gravitational force,
expressed as the weight of the object. The weight equation defines the weight W to be equal to the
mass of the object m times the gravitational acceleration g.

W = m*g

The acceleration of the object equals the gravitational acceleration. The mass, size, and shape if the
object are not a factor in describing the motion of the object. Therefore, all objects, regardless of
size or shape or weight, free fall with the same acceleration.

Projectile

Projectile is a form of motion that an object is thrown near the Earths surface, and it moves
along a curved path under the action of gravity only so it means that air resistance is negligible. The
only force that acts on the object is gravity, which acts downward to cause a downward
acceleration. And because of the objects inertia, no external horizontal force is needed to maintain
the horizontal velocity of the object. If there were any other force acting on an object, then that
object would not be a projectile.

Momentum & Impulse

Momentum is a measurement of mass in motion

which is how much mass in how much motion and
its usually given the symbol P.

p=m*v

Where m is the mass and v is the velocity. The

standard units for momentum are
kg * m/s, and momentum is always a vector quantity.

Impulse is a term that quantifies the overall effect of a

force acting over time. It is usually given the symbol
J and expressed in Newton-seconds

J = F * t

This is exactly equivalent to a change in momentum

p . This equivalence is known as the impulse-
momentum theorem.

Work

Work is refers to an activity involving a force and movement in the direction of the force. The SI
unit of work is joule (J) which is defined as the work expanded by a force of one newton through a
distance of one meter. The work done by a constant force of magnitude F on a point that moves a
displacement s in the direction of the force is the product W=Fs.
Power

Power is the rate at which work is done. Its the work/time ratio P = W/t. The standard metric unit
of power is the Watt. A unit of power is equivalent to a unit of work divided by a unit of time.
Therefore, a Watt is equivalent to Joule/second.

Potential Energy

Potential energy is the stored energy of position possessed by an object. Common types of potential
energy are gravitational potential energy of an object that depends on its mass and its distance from
the centre of mass of another object. Another common types of potential energy is elastic potential
energy. The SI unit for energy is the house which has the symbol J. There is a direct relation
between gravitational potential energy and the mass of an object. More massive objects have greater
gravitational potential energy. There is also a relation between gravitational potential energy and the
height of an object. The higher an object is elevated, the greater the gravitational potential energy.

PEgrav = m * g * h

In the above equation, m represents the mass of the object, h represents the height of the object and
g represents the gravitational field
strength.

Kinetic Energy

Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. An object that has motion, whether vertical or horizontal
motion, has kinetic energy. There are many forms of kinetic energy such as vibrational, rotational,
and translational. The amount of translational kinetic energy of an object has depends on two
variables which are the mass(m) of the object and the speed (v) of the object.

KE = 1/2 * m * v^2

Discussion of Design

We have decided to use water bottles to make our rocket because its the easiest thing to find
and we think that water bottle is the best thing to use. But at first, we do not know how its going to
look like and we have no idea how to make a rocket so we have to do some research. After
researching, we decided to use two bottles to make the rocket, one for the body and one for the
nose. It took us a long time to decide
what kind of nose that were going to use.
At first, we were going to make a nose in
a cone shape because it is easy to
make and it seem to be good for the nose.
But after we done some research it turn
out that a parabola shape is the best for rockets nose.

For the top of the nose, in the beginning we chose to cut the bottle neck and fill it with hot
glue (1). We found that the glue are damaged by vinegar that explode during the experiment, and
its too light. We moved on to the Ping pong ball in half (2) because its a perfect round shape for
the head. Though its too light for the windy day, so we added some rocks. Unfortunately, the rocks
were too heavy. It fell before the target. We reduced the weight from using rocks to using plasticine
since we can decide how much weight we want to add. (3) The result was quite great, but its not so
sustainable. Once our nose hit the concrete floor too hard, and its distroted. Finally, we came to the
solution. We found hard plastic that is actually motorcycle parts. (4) We cut it small, so it can fit in
bottleneck. This kind of plastic is strong enough to crash concrete floor with no damage, and have
enough weight to fly through the wind.

Then, we were thinking about the fins. We decided to have only 3 fins due to the launcher
design. We could choose any design of the fin that doesnt go against the wind direction and slow
down the rocket, but we chose the round shape because of its design. We used cardboards for the
strength and flute board for its waterproof property to create the fins.
 For the cork, at first, we used a wine cork(A) because it easy to find, and we assume that its
waterproof. After we launched our rocket, it turned out that the rocket was leaking because the cork
didnt fit well. We wrapped wine cork with duct tape(B), but the glue dissolve in water as well as
vinegar. We tried to find something waterproof because leaking is our enemy for the rocket. We
used stretch balloon to cover the wine cork(C), but it torn apart in one trial. We changed to use
parafilm from some suggestions. (D) It did work, but also make the cork doesnt fit well, and it
didnt last long. The rubber stopper is our final answer. (E) Its totally stop the rocket from leaking,
and its tight enough that the reaction can store its energy before release the whole gas.
Data

Unofficial experiment

No. of Vinegar Baking Note (Conditions) Result Evaluation

trials (ml.) Soda (g.)

1 350 ml. 24 g. - 35 launcher - Explode too - Reduce the size of

- No wind quickly wrapped baking soda bag
- Baking soda mix - Lose the lid
with vinegar

2 350 ml. 24 g. - 35 launcher - Release but does - Store the reaction gas
- No wind not go before release
- Long shape of - 0 meter
baking soda bag - Some chemicals
and stick to the lid were left unused

3 350 ml. 24 g. - 35 launcher - Explode - There might be problem

- No wind - Leak with the lid because its
- Long shape of leak
baking soda bag - Try more chemical
and stick to the lid
- Hold the bottle
before release

4 400 ml. 24 g. - Set the rocket - 6 meters - Try different ratio of

vertically - It launches. chemicals
- Leak - Make the lid more
waterproof

5 250 ml. 10.5 g. - Change the lid - Does not launch - 2 pieces of tissue is too
- Wrap baking - No reaction thick
soda with 2 pieces - Leak
of tissue

6 280 ml. 7 g. - 25 launcher - 19.5 meters - The glue cant be used

- 1 piece of tissue for next time. Need
- Glue the lid to alternative to make the lid
make it waterproof waterproof.
- The problem is leaking
- Use one layer of tissue
to wrap baking soda is a
key, so the reaction
happen all at the same
time.
Official experiment

Accuracy Mass of object Baking soda Vinegar Angle of Distance

volume propulsion covered

0 83.79g 15.5g 340 mL 40 degrees 30 meters

4 83.79g 15.5g 200 mL 40 degrees 20 meters

0 83.79g 15.35g 200 mL 40 degrees 17 meters

3 90.89g 15.5g 200 mL 30 degrees 20 meters

As you may see, using 340 ml of vinegar passes the target for 10 meters. Instead, using only
200 ml of vinegar is more accurate on the average. Moreover, the angle of the launcher affects the
distance covered as well as the mass of the rocket. Having more rocket mass can help the rocket fly
further. While the amount of baking soda might affects the distance covered, but it is not as
significant in the offical experiments. However, there are many factors that influenced the results
such as wind direction, leaking, and other error. Additionally, you can see that the more baking soda
was added, the greater of the reaction the rocket get. More baking soda will provide more of a push
that send the rocket higher, thus creating a longer period of time before it landed. Overall 15.5
grams of baking soda were the most effective and launched higher. We attempted the experiment a
total of four times. They all went around the different distanced covered. However, we can conclude
that the distance covered was depended on the amount of vinegar and baking soda that we used.
Additionally, the mass of object is also be the important thing that we should measure it to be
balance. As you can see that the mass of rocket of 90.87 grams can cause more accuracy.
Nevertheless, it does not mean that the more weight of object, the more accuracy that the rocket can
reach the goal.

Analysis of data
 First time our group tried the rocket, we do it at our friends house because we wanted to
observe and learn about the relationship of the chemicals before doing the real one on the schools
first trial. We decided to use about 3 tablespoons of baking soda, 250ml of vinegar and an angle of
45 degrees and see how it go so we can adjust or balance it later on. The baking soda was put in the
tissue and got enclosed by stapling. At first we struggled a bit finding out a fancy way to put in our
chemicals. Originally we thought about piercing a hole and use a string with thin baking soda bag or
sort of a carrier that contain baking soda on the top and when you flip it, baking soda fall off. But
we could not find a way to close up the hole properly or the best way to manage the effect it would
have on our rocket. We were worried about the rockets mass and if the chemicals going to leak
out. Not so long after we put the baking soda in, it mixes with the vinegar and gases started to form.
we were excited thinking about where it would go but the rocket just went to the top of our
launcher and suddenly fell to the ground. So the second time we adjusted our chemical to 3
tablespoons of baking soda and 350 ml of vinegar but the angle didnt get adjusted. The second time
we failed again and so did the fourth and fifth time. Our rocket just went 5 cm from the launcher.
The last time we tried, we put 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 300 ml of vinegar at the same
angle. We also reduced the tissue paper wrapped around the baking soda. This time the rocket went
18.5 meters. The amount of chemical used was used at the first school trial, we weighted our rocket
and measured our chemicals. The rockets weight is 83.79, then 15.5 gram of baking soda and 340
ml of vinegar was added.The angle adjusted was 40 degrees. Our rocket went 30 meters, still didnt
hit the target. On that day the wind was pretty strong so we adjusted the rockets weight by adding
more mass to it using clum. We compared our chemicals and asked the teachers some few questions
and finally decided to reduce the chemicals. This time our rocket weight is the same, 83.79, 15.5
grams of baking soda and 200 ml of vinegar was added in and the angle we adjusted was 40
degrees. The result is pretty awesome, our rocket hits the target at 3 points and we finally found the
perfect amount chemicals. At first we tried to put in large amount of chemicals thinking our rocket
would go further but its all about balancing the right amount of chemical depending on the rockets
mass, the wind and the launchers angle.
.

Conclusion
 According to our best result, we used 200 ml of vinegar and 15.5 g of baking soda and our
rocket weight is 83.79 g. For the launcher, we set it at an angle of 40 degrees. By using this certain
amount of chemical and certain weight of rocket, along with one specific degree of the launcher, we
got our best result which is four out of five for the accuracy. As a result, we can see that the amount
of baking soda, vinegar, the angle of propulsion, and the mass of object are the important thing that
we focused throughout the experiment. We have to use the specific amount of those of the things.
As you can see from our result, the less vinegar we use, the more the distance covered.

Recommendation

After the launching try out, we found several mistakes such as chemical leak, remaining
substance and air resistance. We covered the wine cork with plastic tape, balloon, and parafilm to
make the cork fit enough that the chemical substance cant leak. For our best result, we change from
wine cork to the labs rubber stopper which work a lot better and also decrease the remaining
substance in the reaction, too. Another variable that cause the remaining reactance is the napkin that
we put the baking soda inside to slow down the reaction which when we used too thick will increase
remain substance from the reaction. Lastly, the air resistance which is unpredictable and
uncontrollable. We pulled some grass and let them go to see the direction of the air and set up the
launcher to make the rocket fly in the exact direction.