Wagner Ona

Physics
Year 12

Gun powder rockets

Definitions:
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion or the energy that a body
possesses by virtue of being in motion.1 The equation for kinetic energy
is (KE = 0.5 m v2) where m = mass of object and v = speed of object
Gravitational energy is the potential energy held by and object
because of its high position compared to a low position, it is energy
associated with gravity/ gravitational force 2. The equation for this is
PEgrav = mass g height
The law of Conservation of energy states that the total energy of an
isolated system does not changed, it is conserved over time. 3 The basic
formula for conservation of energy is Energy spent in one act =
Energy gained in the related act4
Efficiency generally talking is to how far we are getting the particular outcome
for the given input with as much less waste as possible. It is defined as the
ratio of useful work done to heat or energy absorb by a system. 5 There are

two equations to this,

1 http://faculty.wwu.edu/vawter/PhysicsNet/Topics/Work/WorkEngergyTheorem.html

2 http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_energy

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energy

4 http://physics.tutorvista.com/energy/conservation-of-energy.html

5 http://formulas.tutorvista.com/physics/efficiency-formula.html

Wagner Ona
Physics
Year 12

Efficiency formula in terms of Work is given by

Efficiency formula in terms of Energy is given by

Exercises: second page.

Use the conservation of energy and the equations below to answer the
following questions:

1. Assuming that the rocket uses all of its gunpowder in one

initial explosion calculate the initial vertical velocity of the
rocket for it to reach an altitude of 400m (use our
equations of motion to answer this).
V: 0
S: 400
T: ?
U: ?
A: 9.81
2
V2=U2+2as Rearrange to find U v 2 as=U

022 9.81 400=88.6 m/ s

Answer:

88.6 m/s

2. What mass of fuel will the rocket need to reach an altitude

of 400m (you will need to make some estimates here of the
mass of gunpowder needed and use trial and error to work
this out)
Kinetic energy: 1/2xmxv2added masses on the rocket 200+150g
which was 350g then divided by 1000 to get kg and used Ek
equation 1/2x0.35x88.582=1373.122J

Wagner Ona
Physics
Year 12
*The rocket is pushed upwards with a gunpowder rocket of efficiency
25%, energy density of 3.0 MJkg-1, this means that when 1kg of
gunpowder explodes it releases 3.0 million Joules of energy.

Therefore equation used: Efficiency X density X Unknown Grams X

1 million= gunpowder needed.
Hence tried with 1 kg = (1/4x3x1)x(1x106)=750000 (answer way
off 1373 joules)
Tried with 0.0020 kg = (1/4x0.0020x1) x (1x106) = 1500 (answer
close)
Tried with 0.00181 kg = (1/4x0.0181x1) x (1x106) = 1357.5 (closes
value)
Then tried with 0.00183 kg = (1/4x0.0183x1) x (1x106) = 1372.5
(closest value)
Therefore it needs a mass of 0.00183 kg or 1.83 grams of fuel to
reach an altitude of 400m.
3. How much kinetic energy will the rocket need at ground
level?
Ek=1/2mv2
1/2x0.35x88.582=1373.122J
4. How much gravitational potential energy will the rocket
gain?
Egp=mg h
0.35x9.81x400= 1373.4J
The conservation of energy concept is correct here, the energy
does not disappear it stays isolated and conserved over time. This
shows chemical energy converted into kinetic energy, as seen on
question 3 and 4.