Abstract

Several rockets were launched into the air and calculations and predictions were made for the resulting maximum height of the rockets after launch. During launch measurements were taken in order to determine the actual height. However, both the measured values and the predicted values would end up either slightly varying or greatly varying from the actual height of the rockets. Results: Rocket Predicted Height Red/Silver 77.0 m Black/Red 67.0 m Red/Yellow(B) 50.0 m Red/Yellow(C) 97.0 m Big White 73.0 m Small White 23.0 m Measured Height 450.73 m 59.59 m 166.98 m 475.72 m 186.6 m 28.49 m

Introduction
This Rocket Lab was developed in order to teach the class several concepts in physics, primarily about air resistance, or drag. The class had been ignoring air resistance up until this point. The concepts that would be learned from this lab were kinematics, the motion of objects without references to the forces that cause motion; dynamics, the motion of objects under the action of forces; impulse, a change in momentum equivalent to the average force multiplied by the time in which it acts; momentum, the quantity of motion of a moving body; drag force, the forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity; drag coefficient, the ratio of the drag on a body moving through air to the product of the velocity and the surface area of the body.

The impulse/momentum theorem is something that needs to be understood in order to calculate the rockets height, as the impulse of the rocket will be a part of the equations used to calculate it. It is derived as such:

) ( )

Three different rocket engines were available; the C6, the B6, and the A8. A fourth and much smaller engine, which was a A, which would be used for the smallest rocket that none of the previous three larger engines could fit into. The letter in the engine names is the impulse of the engine, starting from 2.5 N/s for A with the impulse doubling for each consecutive letter (i.e. B = 5.0 N/s and C = 10.0 N/s). The number next to the letter denotes the average force output by the engine when it has been ignited. Another crucial thing to understand before calculating the height is numerical iteration. Numerical iteration is when you take the output of one function and use it as the input for the next function. What few values are known are used to calculate another value that will be plugged into another equation to find another value; this is repeated until all variables are known, particularly the height in this case.

Engine Thrust Analysis

Special equipment was used in measuring the thrust obtained from the engines. The equipment used consisted of duct tape, a metal track (A), a small car made to ride the track (B), a digital force gauge (C), an empty box of Fernwood mint chocolate sandwiches (D) to act as a rocket stand in, a rocket engine (E), an igniter (F), alligator clamps (G), a 12V DC battery (not pictured), and a TI-84 graphing calculator (not pictured). A photograph of the setup is shown below along with the objects labeled with their corresponding letters.

The digital force gauge was secured to the track using duct tape and a TI-84 calculator, with its peripheral, were connected to it. The calculator was on trigger mode, which means that it checks the incoming data from the force gauge and if it detects a value outside of the set parameters it will start to record the incoming data. The gauge was also zeroed before data recording so that correct measurements could be taken, otherwise any residual data in the gauge would throw off the numbers. The chocolate box, along with the engine inserted into a hole in one of its ends, was fixed onto the car and the three conjoined pieces were laid on the track. They

were held loosely in position by a two strips of duct tape stuck together so the adhesive was not exposed; this was to ensure that the car stayed on the track but also would not be restrained from exerting force on the digital force gauge. The rocket engines igniter is held into the engine by a pink plug. The igniter is also being held by some alligator clamps which are connected to the 12V DC battery. Upon ignition of the engine the chocolate box and car began to push on the force gauge. The force gauge recorded the force exerted by the engine every tenth of a second for seven seconds. Data was collected from the force gauge via the use of the TI-84 calculator and an attached peripheral. The numbers generated by the digital force gauge were negative due to the direction that the rocket engine was pushing on it, so in the calculations the negative sign is neglected due to the fact that force cannot technically be negative. Graphs and tables were made with the resulting data; they are pictured below.

1/2 Time A3 A8

B6

C6

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0

0.0 0.0 6.0 5.0

0.0 6.0

0.0 6.0

By finding the area under the curve of these graphs we can find the impulse of the rocket engine. This number is likely to be slightly different that the impulse designated by the letter type of the engine; this is due to manufacturing, you can never get it perfect, but the numbers are close enough to ignore.

3.0 9.0 10.0 14.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 2.5 0.0 2.2 0.0 2.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 4.8 4.5 4.5 4.5 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 4.7 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 0.2 0.0

Drag Force (Air Resistance)

Measuring the air resistance of a rocket requires more special equipment. Among the equipment list was a small air tunnel (A), a rocket body (B), and a protractor (C); they are pictured below labeled with their corresponding letters.

The honeycomb structure in the above image is found in the section of the air tunnel labeled a in the image to the right. Its purpose is to evenly distribute all incoming air over everything in the tunnel.

When the air tunnel is turned on the rocket, which is suspended in the tunnel via a string, is acted upon by the force of the moving air. This will cause the rocket to be pushed backwards. The protractor in behind the rocket can be used to measure an angle () which is formed by the string. That angle will then be used in an equation to find the drag coefficient which will later be used in calculating the air resistance. This equation is derived as such:

Only one rocket, the red/yellow, was tested in the wind tunnel, so the drag coeficient was estimated for the other rockets that would be launched. These assumptions might lead to some error in our final predictions. These are the numbers: Rocket Red/Silver Black/Red Red/Yellow Big White Small White Drag Coefficient .004 .005 .002 .004 .001

Numerical Model
The numbers for the average thrust, drag force, average net force, average net impulse, initial velocity, final velocity, average velocity, and final hight of each of the rockets were calculated using an Excel spreadsheet with cells that were programed with equations. The equations and a sample spreadsheet can be seen below.

Mass (of rocket and engine together) = Drag Coefficient (kd) =

0.083 0.002
Average Net Force

(must be kg)

Type of Rocket and Type of Engine =

Red/ Yellow (B)

Time 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 3.3

Thrust 0.0 6.0

Average Thrust

Drag Force

Average Net Impulse

Initial Velocity

Final Velocity

Average Velocity

Initial Height

Final Height

Final Time 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 3.3

3.00 8.00

0.00 0.01 0.25 0.77 1.17 1.51 1.81 2.09 2.22 1.98 1.58 1.27 1.03 0.84 0.68 0.56 0.45 0.37 0.29 0.23 0.02

2.19 7.17 6.93 3.82 2.66 2.18 1.88 0.85 -1.54 -2.80 -2.40 -2.09 -1.85 -1.65 -1.50 -1.37 -1.27 -1.18 -1.11 -1.05 -0.83

0.22 0.72 0.69 0.38 0.27 0.22 0.19 0.08 -0.15 -0.28 -0.24 -0.21 -0.18 -0.17 -0.15 -0.14 -0.13 -0.12 -0.11 -0.10 -0.08

0.00 2.63 11.28 19.63 24.23 27.43 30.06 32.33 33.35 31.49 28.12 25.24 22.72 20.50 18.51 16.70 15.05 13.52 12.10 10.77 -2.99

2.63 11.28 19.63 24.23 27.43 30.06 32.33 33.35 31.49 28.12 25.24 22.72 20.50 18.51 16.70 15.05 13.52 12.10 10.77 9.51 -3.99

1.32 6.96 15.45 21.93 25.83 28.75 31.19 32.84 32.42 29.81 26.68 23.98 21.61 19.50 17.60 15.88 14.29 12.81 11.44 10.14 -3.49

0.00 0.13 0.83 2.37 4.57 7.15 10.02 13.14 16.43 19.67 22.65 25.32 27.72 29.88 31.83 33.59 35.17 36.60 37.88 39.03 43.69

0.13 0.83 2.37 4.57 7.15 10.02 13.14 16.43 19.67 22.65 25.32 27.72 29.88 31.83 33.59 35.17 36.60 37.88 39.03 40.04 43.34

10.0

8.00
6.0

5.40
4.8

4.65
4.5

4.50
4.5

4.50
4.5

3.75
3.0

1.50
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0

0.00
0.0 0.0 0.0

0.00 0.00

The predicted height is the last number in the Final Height column. (Due to limited space on the paper this report is printed on, and the difficulty of formating the original Excel sheet to show properly, only two seconds of data could be shown, but the data at the final height is presented beneath the table highlighted in green.) The predicted final heights for all of the rockets are as shown: Rocket Predicted Height Red/Silver 77.0 m Black/Red 67.0 m Red/Yellow(B) 50.0 m Red/Yellow(C) 97.0 m Big White 73.0 m Small White 23.0 m

When the drag coefficient is set to zero, the final height of the rockets becomes significantly higher. For example, the predicted final height from the sample table above goes from 43.34m to 118.59m. This is a prime example of why air resistance should not be ingnored.

Flight Results
In a similar fashion to how the thrust analysis was set up, the rockets were prepared for launch.

For measuring the height of the rockets three people were placed fifty feet away from the launch; from above their positions would resemble an equilateral triangle if lines were drawn between them. Each person was equipped with a makeshift sextant made of a protractor, a straw, a washer, and a piece of string. Pictured below is one example of such a sextant.

Three people were used because rockets have a tendency to not fly straight up. The measured angles would be averaged and plugged into an equation for the height of the rocket.

The recorded angels were as follows: Rocket Type Red/Silver Red/Black Red/Yellow (B) Red/Yellow (C) Big White Small White Observer 1 87 88 78 >90 75 30 Measured Angles Observer 2 Observer 3 75 89 70 >90 65 77 80 88 >90 75 34 25 Average Angle 84 79 73 84 75 30

With the above equation, the proceeding data was calculated: Rocket Measured Height Red/Silver 450.73 m Black/Red 59.59 m Red/Yellow(B) 166.98 m Red/Yellow(C) 475.72 m Big White 186.6 m Small White 28.49 m

Conclusion
As it can be seen with the data below, our predicted data was, in most cases, drastically different from our measured data. Rocket Predicted Height Red/Silver 77.0 m Black/Red 67.0 m Red/Yellow(B) 50.0 m Red/Yellow(C) 97.0 m Big White 73.0 m Small White 23.0 m Measured Height 450.73 m 59.59 m 166.98 m 475.72 m 186.6 m 28.49 m

This can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, real world practice will always be slightly or considerably different from the mathmatical concept. Secondly, the rockets do not fly straight up; some of the observers even measured angles above 90, which means it went over their heads, thus making the measurement invalid for use in the equation, and as a result throwing off the data. However, even the measured data is likely to be off from the actual heights of the rockets. This is primarily because of one factor, the bane of scientific experiments everywhere: human error. The distance between the observers and the rocket were most assuradly not not precisely fifty meters, and even the measurements of the observers are bound to be off to some degree. So what can be done? One solution could be attaching both an accelerometer and a gyroscope to the rocket before launch. This would provide all the needed data to calculate an extreemley precise measurement for the actual height of the rockets.