Fuel Capacity and How it affects a Water Rocket Launch

By Anya, Maris, and Sofia (code: Anya: AS, Maris: MLM, and Sofia: SD)
Question: How does fuel capacity affect the distance of a water rocket launch?

Rationale: We think that this project is important because it would easily help physicists
and astronauts in space and helping them by experimenting the water rockets to go farther.

What we know from our research:(Helpful information)

SD- The first point that hits the air is the nose cone because it is facing upward. If the
speed of the rocket is less than the speed of sound which is 1200 h, the nose cone’s shape is
best a rounded curve. The speed of a rocket through the air increases drag because of the
way it’s pointing. If we play with the amount of water we use to launch, then we maybe can
discover different heights it can go to. The center of mass in an object is where the weight is
concentrated. We are thinking of making a sharp nose cone because we need to be a little
safer in terms of fuel capacity. We need a lot of water to make the rocket go higher. We
cannot use something flammable to fuel our rocket. Since our experiment is for a high-flying
water rocket, we at least need 3-4 fins on the bottom of it. The key to not overflowing this
rocket is to measure our capacity properly, and carefully. The point where all the
aerodynamic forces are concentrated is called the center of pressure. The center of pressure
in our rocket is the middle of it because that’s where everything comes together.

MLM- In the rocket, the nose cone and diameter affect drag. The nose cone is the point at
the head of the plane. They help slice through the air, because you want it to be as pointy as
possible to be faster and lighter and the speed and the diameter are the most important
with the nose cone, because of how important drag is. Drag is the force that is opposite to
the objects motion. It is also caused by friction in the air and differences in air pressure. The
drag is like something pulling you back, while thrust pushes you forward. Drag also depends
on the area pushing through the air. Rockets with larger diameters have more drag because
more air is being pushed out of the way. Fins control direction and stability. A fin is a wing on
the rocket that helps stabilize the object. The fins are on the back of the plane. The single
point at which all the aerodynamic forces are concentrated is called the center of pressure. I
got that from: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/392-rocket-aerodynamics . To find
the ‘center of pressure’ you draw the outline of the rocket, and the exact center of the
drawing would be the center of pressure. So, what is the center of pressure? The center of
pressure is a point which aerodynamic forces go through. There is finally the pressurized air.
The pressurized air is the center of pressure, basically, just in different Overall, the thing I
learned from our research is that rocket study is more diverse and complicated then I
thought. I learned more about drag and a little more than last year's planes.

AS- We need to use 3-4 fins on the rocket. We need to use lots of fuel. The drag should
be equal to the lift because we learned that planes need that also last year. Drag is basically
the force that drags a plane down and lift is the force that is caused by differences in the air
pressure that makes the plane turn right. Lift also balances the plane. The nose should be
light, and the air must be breathable. http://www.com/flying_higher.htm, this is a website for
tips too. When I talk about air pressure it means the air blowing around the wings, the air
forced to go around the wings, because the plane usually goes at high speed, so the wings
slice through the air. A plane is like a plane if you really think about it because they are both
machines that fly. The body of the rocket is usually thin so we should probably do the same
to just make the rocket kind of easier to launch.
 Ares V. Is supposed to be launched in 2020. This rocket will put people on Mars. It is
exciting because this is what the nation has been waiting for. This is also a big chance for AI
to start. This rocket is 25 feet tall. -AS

We tried to launch at NO FUEL, and our observations were that it went 7 meters!

We tried to launch at 500 milliliters, and our observations were that it went an amazing
21 meters!!!!

We tried to launch at 1,000 milliliters, and our observations were that the launch only
went to 9 meters!

We tried to launch at 2,000 milliliters, and the rocket only went to 1 and a half meters!!!

We tried to launch at 1500 milliliters, and our last observations were that the distance of
the launch was 5 and a half meters!

We

SD-Here are some numbers of 3 different rockets that have launched in the past and
maybe will launch in the future:

Saturn V: (pronounced Saturn Five) was an American launch expandable, human rated
rocket. Rocket scientists launched a total of 13 Saturn V rockets were launched between
1967-1973.

Saturn IB: (which is pronounced “one B”) was an American launch rocket lead by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (commonly known as NASA) for the
Apollo program. Its first flight was on February 26, 1966. It was much more powerful than
its relative; the Saturn IV. It had a more effective and powerful S-IVB –MLM

Saturn I: (pronounced Saturn one) was the USA’s first heavy-lift dedicated space
launcher designed to launch large payloads into earth's orbit*. (*credit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(rocket_family) The ABMA (Army Ballistic Missile
Agency) developed Saturn I.

The rocket is pressurized by the gas in it. -Sofia from

https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/392-rocket-aerodynamics
Soap is used to create a heavy foam in the rocket.
 There is a force created on the rocket that is using Newton’s Third Law. -Sofia

the smaller the nozzle the farther the rocket will fly.
Warnings - do not pump too much air into the bottle.
Stay away from the rocket when pumping air and after pumping air –Anya

Sites we used for research:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AwrWpymxAghcdkEADGIPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB
yNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?
qid=20080701021125AAFIpnk
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/392-rocket-aerodynamics
https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/hydrogen/hydrogen_fuel_of_choice.html

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/rocket/rktbot.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_rocket

http://www.aircommandrockets.com/flying_higher.htm
https://howthingsfly.si.edu/forces-flight/four-forces
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(rocket_family)

Our Hypothesis:(Ends in a period)

MLM- Too much fuel would weigh the rocket down, and it also matters about the angle of which it is
launched. We should use the same aerodynamics as we would building a plane. We need the perfect
amount.

AS- I think the more fuel the farther it will fly. I also think that if it is very light it will fly farther. Too much
gas fuel will blow the rocket up though, so we must be careful to not put too much fuel in the rocket. I
think we also should use a lot pressure because that will make the rocket fly higher. I think we should
make the drag equal to the lift so it's just like a plane can fly. I think that we should not decorate the rocket
too much also, because that weigh t will weigh the rocket down and it is kind of unnecessary and a waste
of time. I think that if the rocket has a lot of fuel then it would fly farther. If it didn’t have a lot of fuel it
wouldn’t fly as far. I don’t necessarily think that all my ideas may be right, but this is just my opinion of
how things will go.

SD- I think that the more fuel/gas that we produce, the higher the rocket will “fly”. The heaviness will
matter as well. The littler the air, the shorter the rocket will be flying. If we overflow the bottle, it will be too
heavy and burst. (We should be careful about how much water we put inside the rocket.) I think the four
forces matter in terms of flight because there’s air resistance on the opposing motion of the rocket. The
water might kind of propel the water rocket. I hope that if we experiment with and change the amount of
water in the rocket, then we can discover how high/low it can go.

Materials:(Very detailed list - usually 10 items or more)

1. Bottle
2. Launcher
3. Protractor
4. Water
5. Milliliter measuring cup/tube

Steps of our experiment: (Numbered steps)

1. Build the rocket

2. Get information about rockets
3. Start experimenting with different amounts of milliliters
4. We tried to launch at 100 milliliters, which went

Our Results:(pictures and graphs)

We tried to launch at NO FUEL, and our observations were that it went 7 meters!

We tried to launch at 500 milliliters, and our observations were that it went an amazing
21 meters!!!!

We tried to launch at 1,000 milliliters, and our observations were that the launch only
went to 9 meters!

We tried to launch at 2,000 milliliters, and the rocket only went to 1 and a half meters!!!

We tried to launch at 1500 milliliters, and our last observations were that the distance of
the launch was 5 and a half meters!

Names of experts we contacted: (researchers in your field of study)

Sofia-Dr. Ashley Moone - University of Iowa - fungus researcher

Anya-Mr. Adelberger- Plant specialist at Mushroom Farm

Maris-Mary Grumbell - University of Wisconsin - Fungi Department

Conclusion

Looking at our results, it is clear that our original hypothesis was MORE FUEL, THE FARTHER IT WILL
GO. One way we know it is wrong is that the more fuel, the more it would be weighed down. We think this
happened because it was too much weight. Another thing that happened was that the wind affected our
launch. We think this was because wind can change the direction of the rocket. It turns out that at 500 ml
goes the farthest out of the amounts we tested. If we were to do this again, two things we would change
would be that we would be more on track and we would also be more exact with the measurements.

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/hydrogen/hydrogen_fuel_of_choice.html