OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this experiment is

to learn more about physics and
chemistry by creating a rocket
experiment this involves designing
the rocket, calculating how far the
rocket goes or the distance of the
rocket, and using baking soda and
vinegar to create a chemical reaction
which will then help in launching the
rocket. In order to accomplish this
experiment we would have to
determine the correct amount of
baking soda and vinegar that will
help the rocket reach its target.
Furthermore, we would be using our
knowledge that we have studied from
our classes and apply them to make
this rocket become successful.
MATERIALS:

Plastic Cover

Hanger
Wire tape

Duck tape
Vinegar
PVC Pipe

Glitter Baking soda

 Wine lit
Pipe connector

Plastic bottle Food color

Laquer Tissue paper

Rubber ring seal Rope

MEASUREMENTS:

Balance Scale

Cylinder

Table Spoon
 SET- UP

(DRAWING)
 Background
What is a rocket? According to NASA, the word
rocket can be understood in various ways. Most people
think that it is a thin round shape vehicle that lands on an
object called launcher before the energy is at the point
that it is ready to take off. In the early days, one of the
first device that was successful to flight a rocket used a
principle of a wooden bird.
About 100 B. C., a Greek Hero of Alexandria,
invented a similar rocket device called an aeolipile. It
used steam as a propulsive gas. Hero mounted a sphere
on top of a water kettle. A fire below was turning the
water into steam and then the gas pass through the pipe
and escaped into the sphere. The two L - shaped tubes on
each opposite sides of the sphere allows the gas to exit
to the environment, helping the sphere to rotate.
 First rocket appeared anonymously. In the
past, rocket devices appear sporadically through
the historical records. However, the successful
rocket came from an accident. In the first A. D.,
Chinese people invented a simple form of
gunpowder made from saltpeter, sulfur and
charcoal dust to use them as weapons during the
war. These inventions filled bamboo tubes with
mixtures and was tossed into fire. Perhaps some
of those tubes failed to explode and instead
skittered out of the fires, propelled by the gases
and sparks produced by the burning gunpowder.

Chinese people began experimenting with

gunpowder that were filled in bamboo tubes. They
attached bamboo tubes to arrows and launched
them with bows. After that, they had discovered
that these tubes were attached by themselves
because the power was produced from the
escaping gas. Since then, everyone accept this as a
true rocket and stated that it had been discovered.
 During 1232, it was the first time that rockets had
been used during the war between Chinese and Mongols.
During the battle of Kai - King Chinese invaded the
Mongols by throwing arrows that contain fire on it. These
fire arrows were a basic form of a propellant rocket, a tube
capped at one end, containing gunpowder. The other end
was open and attached with a long stick. After the battle of
kai - Keng, the Mongolian produced their own rockets and it
began to spread through European countries. In 13th - 15th
centuries, there was a monk in England, he improved forms
of gunpowder that increased the range of having rockets.
On the other side, Jean Froissart from France discovered
that more accurate flights could be achieved by launching
rockets through tubes.

By 16th century rockets became a tool that was used

as a weapon in wars. After, Johann Schmidlap, a German
who discovered firework, invented the step rocket, a multi
- function that helps lift fireworks to higher altitudes. A
large sky rocket will carry a smaller sky rocket; when the
large one burns out, the small one will then continue to
move towards a higher altitude before it would explode.
Schmidlap idea is a basic to all rockets today that is sent
into outer space.
 Rocket becomes
a Science

During the 17th century, the scientific foundations

for modern rocket was invested by the great English scientist
Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727). Newton combined all of his
understanding of physical motion into three scientific laws.
The first law explained that it referred to the law of inertia.
An object is at rest and it will continued be at rest until there
is a force acts on it. The Newtons second law of motion is
the rate of change of momentum is directly proportional to
the impulse motive force and take place in the direction in
which the forces acts. Lastly, the Newtons third law of motion
states that for every action you do there will be a reaction but
in opposite direction. So, these laws can be used to explained
how the rockets work and how are they be able to fly in the
place which didnt have atmosphere.
 Between the end of 18th century and early 19th
century, rockets were used to be an experiment weapons in the
war in India; it successfully barrages against the British in 1792
and in 1799 which caught the interest of many experts.
During a typical siege, all over the world rocket
researchers experimented with ways to improve accuracy.
William Hale, an English guy developed a technique called spin
stabilization. He used a method that exhaust gas escaping by
the small vanes at the bottom of the rocket; it causes the rocket
to spin. Nowadays, there are varieties of ways to do it and it
still have been used in the war.
 Introduction
Do you ever curious about how does the rocket work?
Or Which methods that the scientist use? How can it be able
to fly in the space? This is briefly information that you should
know Rocket is similar to the balloon when we release the
air out of it or filled it up to balloon. When we filled the air
in the balloon, inside of it will have more pressure than the
outside of a balloon. Also when we release the balloon out
they system is similar to the hole that is no internal pressure
act on it. We adapt what we learn from the physic class to
making this project.
However, theoretically the rocket in the space they
dont have any support for them to move. By using the
knowledge of physics which creates by an English scientist
Sir Isaac Newton listed three Laws of Motion. The rockets
work by the Newtons Third Law of Motion; also, can be
defined as for every action that occurs to an object there will
be an equal to the opposite reaction. This rule can be seen
on Earth by the normal force of your body on the chair. The
gravitational potential energy is balanced by the force of the
chair which is pushing up your body. Also, there is a friction
between the wheels of a car and the road. Other forces are
result as an interaction between a distance for example:
gravity, electrical, and magnetic forces.
 In order to know how the rocket work, theoretically
a rocket engine uses a source of oxygen and also oil which
are mixed and exploded in a combustion chamber. When the
combustion was exploded it produced a hot exhaust and
passed through a nozzle (a cylindrical or round part at the
end of the rocket). For a rocket, the accelerated gas or
working fluid is the hot exhaust produced during
combustion. Furthermore, a rocket uses combustion theory
so that they will be able to move in the place where there is
no atmosphere.
There are two main types of the rocket engines
which are liquid rockets and solid rockets. In a solid rocket
propellant (things that help to drive the rocket) are mixed
and packed together into a solid cylinder. In the normal
temperature surroundings, the propellants do not burn;
However they will burn when exposed to source of heat
provided by an igniter (a device for igniting a fuel mixture in
an engine). When it starts to burn, it will be proceed until
the propellant is exhausted. You cant stop the engine when
it already started unless you have to destroy the casing to
stop it. On the other hand, a liquid rocket the materials such
as a propellants, a fuels and an oxidizer are stored
separately as a liquids and it will pump into the combustion
chamber where the burning occurs.The liquid rockets are
heavier and harder to use because there are pumpers and
storage.
 In spite, our project we used baking soda and vinegar
as an engine of the rocket. Baking soda have a reaction with
vinegar create acid - base reaction because they are
exchanging atoms. In the reaction, baking soda is acting as a
base, takes a proton from a vinegar, which acts as an aid in
the experiment.

The chemical equation for the overall reaction is:

NaHCO3(s) + CH3COOH(l) CO2(g) + H2O(l) +

Na+(aq) + CH2COO-

Acetic acid Sodium Bicarbonate

(Vinegar) (Baking Soda)
 DISCUSSION OF
PHYSICS
CONCEPTS
1. Measurements
There are three standard units in physics which are
meter, kilogram, and second. These three units are from
mks- system or the metric system. Meter is the unit of
length, kilogram is the unit of a mass, and second is a unit of
time.
In this rocket experiment, we will be using the meter
since we would have to calculate how far the rocket moves
which is in the unit of length. Our main goal to shoot the
rocket in a distance of 20 meter to make sure that it hits the
target.
2. Newtons Laws of Motion (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
Newtons first law states that An object persists in
its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it
is compelled to change that state by forces impressed on
it. F = 0
Newtons second law states that Rate of change of
momentum is directly proportional to the impressed motive
force and takes place in the direction in which the force
acts. F= ma
Newtons third law states that For every action,
there is an equal and opposite re-action.
By doing this rocket experiment, we are using a
combination of these three laws. Suppose there is no
energy from vinegar and baking soda inserted to the
rocket, then the rocket would not be able to move which
goes by Newtons first law. Furthermore, the more we add
to the mass of the chemicals the more it will increase the
force that the rocket would be able to shoot. If the rocket
contains a heavy mass, then the rocket would need more
force in order for it to shoot and this statements goes by
Newtons second law.
 The last law is related to this rocket
experiment because it proves to us that the force
that the rocket uses to shoot is the same with the
force of the exhaust being released from the
rocket.
There are important components in linear motion which velocity,
acceleration, and position. Velocity is speed in a given time.
Acceleration is how fast an object travels, it is the difference in
velocity over time. Position describes the location object relative
to something or origin. Linear motion is the movement of an
object in a straight line. There are five laws to linear motion :

These formulas above would help us calculate the

initial velocity, final velocity, acceleration, time, and
the displacement of a body in a horizontal line.
4. Projectile
A projectile is an object moving in two
dimensions under the influence of Earths gravity; its
path is a parabola. Projectile motion can be
understood by analyzing the horizontal and vertical
motions separately. The speed in the x-axis is
constant while the y-axis moves with constant
acceleration due to the gravity.
By using projectile in this rocket experiment, it
could help us calculate the best angle in which the
rocket will hit the target.
5. Impulse and Momentum
Momentum is a property of moving things. It is inertia in
motion. Momentum is directly proportional to mass and velocity.
The momentum of the rocket will follow in the direction of the
force while the momentum of the exhaust gas will go in the
opposite direction.
Momentum before = Momentum after
Impulse is the change in momentum:
Ft = (mv)
6. Energy (Work, Power, KE, PE)
Work is done when force is applied to an
object and moves that object. Work is force
multiplied by the distance that object is moving.
Work = force x time
The unit of work is equal to joules because
force has the unit of newton while displacement has
the unit of metres. Therefore, newton times metres
results into joules.
However, this is not only the formula of work.
If the displacement is in the direction opposite to
force then a negative sign would have to be inserted
into this formula. On the other hand, if the
displacement is perpendicular to the force then the
work done would be zero.
In this rocket experiment, the rocket completes
both conditions. The force it gains from the chemical
reaction inserted force to it resulting in it moving. By
moving, it is displaced. Thus, the rocket gains work.
 Power is the rate of doing work. It is the
amount of energy consumed (work) over time.
Power = work/time
Unit of power is joules per second which is
known as watt. Power is a scalar quantity which
means that it has no direction.
In this rocket experiment, power will tell us
how fast each object goes. Some object might have
the same work, although they travel in different
rates of time which allow each object to travel at
different speeds.

Energy is the ability to do work. Its unit is joules.

There are various forms of energy such as potential
energy, kinetic energy, thermal energy, chemical
energy, and electrical energy.
 Chemical energy is the energy bonded in the
chemical bonds which can be released in chemical
reactions. Thermal energy is the energy released as a
heat, such as friction. However, there are two mains
well known categories of energy which are potential
and kinetic energy.

Potential energy is an energy an object has

because of its position relative to other objects. It is
known as an object that has stored energy.
Potential energy = mgh
Kinetic energy is energy possessed by movement.
 Conservation of energy states that energy can
neither be created nor destroyed, it can only be
transformed from one form to another. The total
energy before and after transformation remains the
same.
In this rocket experiment, chemical energy
takes place when vinegar and baking soda reacts
within one another. When it reacts within one
another this energy is then transformed into heat
energy. The energy gained from the chemical
reaction allows the rocket to transfer its energy as
kinetic energy and moves. After it reaches its
maximum point, potential energy will then takes
place and is transfer once again to kinetic energy.
Although, these concepts are used in this
experiment, but they are only involved at the
beginning of the reaction. They have a big impact
as a whole. In reality, the rocket is launched into
space and since space is a vacuum it will keep
moving forever according to Newtons first law.
Newtons second and third law are more involved
in the first part of the rocket and comes into play
more during the launch stages.