Grant Jung

2/5/13
P.3
Section 1: The Primary Forces Acting on the Rocket:
1. Gravity The force that attracts a body toward the center of the Earth, or toward any
other physical body having mass.
2. Lift The force that directly opposes the weight of an object and holds the object in
the air.
3. Thrust The force that moves an object through the air. It usually overcomes the drag
of the object in flight and weight.
4. Drag Drag is a force that is generated by the friction and contact of a solid object
with a fluid.

Section 2: Scientific Explanations of My Rocket Design:

My rocket design was the same idea as the Kony rocket design or backslider. I
knew I wanted my rocket to be tall to make sure it had enough length to backslide or even
just propeller down with big enough fins to counteract the gravity. My rocket turned out
to be about 1 meters tall. It was first started with a normal 2L Sprite bottle, which I
then added another 2L bottle that had its top cut off for some additional height. I
continued on with more height by rolling up some newspaper for my nosecone. Since the
newspaper wasnt long enough, I ended up having to put my cones together for extra
height. It was also great since it added more strength in layers and stability.
Attaching the nosecone was bit hard. I tried several times to tape on a nosecone
that would be symmetrical on all sides so that it would not favor any one side in weight
more than another. Then, I built the fins. Since I wanted to create a nice propeller design
if not a backslider, I decided to create large enough fins that would be able to support my
rocket body as long as possible. As for liftoff, I gave my fins a slight 6 degree angle so it
would be more stable flying up, as it would have a spiral effect like a football. I used a
bottle cap that I found that was very rounded, much to a parabola, which would guide my
rocket nicely through the air. I had to cut my nosecone down to fit in size with it though.
For the finishing touches, I made sure that every single one of my fins were taped
down securely and that there were no gaps or openings in my nosecone where air could
catch on, and potentially rip up my rocket on lift off. My strategy for the max time aloft
was large enough fins to propeller itself down and a long enough, yet balanced (with

Grant Jung
2/5/13
P.3
coins) rocket that would backslide. I also tried to make my bottle rocket as light as
possible.
Materials: Scotch tape, silicon glue, 2 2L bottles, 1 in. bottle cap, 5 sheets of
newspaper, and 12 index cards.

Section 3: Project Conclusions

1. 5.45 seconds aloft. I would have tried to make my rocket more back heavy by
adding more coins/weight to the back. If I were to make another rocket, I would
probably make it out of construction paper for the nosecone instead of newspaper,
since it did not hold up very well, and it was hard to work with.
Next time, I would probably also like to see if I could install on a propeller or
parachute that would be able to slow down my rockets decent dramatically and
see how that would affect my score.
2. My favorite part of the project was launching the actual rocket, as well as
watching others do very well (what I would like mine to look like), to others that
didnt do as well. On liftoff, my rocket had a very straight path, but nosedived, it
being too nose heavy.
3. First, I should probably have planned out my design a little bit better, for my
nosecone wasnt really that well designed. I had troubles with attaching it and it
fitting on correctly. Second, I learned that there are quite a few things that
determine how your rocket will fly, including the forces drag, lift, gravity, and
thrust. It was also cool how angling your fins helped it spiral and maintained its
straight path easier. Third, I learned how to make a bottle rocket. Ive made model
rockets with actual engines before. But, the bottle rocket was a truly new
experience for me. Glad I could do it.