Water Bottle Rocket Final Reflection

Hey so final blogpost today.  Sorry we were unable to write the blogpost sooner because both Marisa and I had Okinawa students.  So we were busy taking them around and talk to them, the entire day (from around 9:30 to 3:30).  Therefore, we couldn't do the post.  Anyways, getting to the point, we had almost the opposite of a good time doing this rocket project.  We had absolutely no materials to work with and we had to spend much time on designing it.  And yesterday didn't help when we launched our rocket, and it landed on the roof of Midkiff.  But in any case, we actually had the best day today with our rocket.  We found the irony in this entire project.  The irony is less is more.  Because we had to make another rocket, we just had to use one bottle, with no wings and whatever materials we had left.  When we shot it the first time, we had to pull it before we did a lot of pumps because the pressure was leaking out.  Anyways, the second time we did it, we pumped it for like 22 times, then we launched it.  At first we thought it was going to fail because it didn't start to open until it actually started falling.  But then, just at the last second, the parachute deployed and the wind took it for a joy ride.  When it landed, it reached a time of 11.28 seconds.  That was totally unbelievable for us.  Anyways, this project from start to end wasn't "hard", it was just frustrating to actually get it finalize it and such.  So Mr. Blake, if you are reading this, can you please, please, please spare our grade, we have a good reason on why we weren't able to turn it in by 3:30.  Onegaishimasu...

This last time, without the fins and the length, our bottle rocket went up, had the cone fall off, and the parachute deploy. Everything worked relatively well seeing as how our cone came off. It didn't veer towards midkiff like it did yesterday. I guess sometimes basic things work better than others fancier, more complicated things. Anyway, the nose cone worked well because it allowed the bottle to go higher and hide the parachute until the time it deployed. If it wasn't there, it would have slowed the rocket down on the way up and decreased flight time because the rocket would not go as high as with no nose cone. I feel pretty successful though. Our flight times through all our launches excluding yesterday's launch made the requirements of minimal time. This was also probably the most fun thing we've done in this class. Basically, all the rockets had the same modifications; the only basic differences were the way people cut them and attached them. As Mr. Blake mentioned in class, it could be the butterfly effect that each addition to the bottle had on everything of the bottle's. Anyway, I'm pretty proud we were able to make the time. This would have made and interesting long term project to reach more than ten seconds though.

Water Bottle Rocket Final Launch

Hey so we did our final launch today... Didn't go so well.  I'll tell you why we don't have any proof during the course of this post.  So today was the final day to launch.  Marisa and I were ready to launch.  We had all the pieces in place, everything was almost perfect.  The only thing we weren't expecting was the weather.  It blew our rocket up on top of the roof never to be seen again.  The reason why we don't have proof was because we thought that we were going to have more than one chance to try.  Nope.  So now it is stuck on the roof of Midkiff and we can't do anything but stare at it again.  The only thing I wish we could change was the weather.  If it wasn't for that, I think we could have made a pretty decent time.  But I believe we have a second chance tomorrow.  Unfortunately, we have to make another rocket.  I'm sorry to Mr. Blake if he is reading this but we aren't really going to make that much modifications to it because we don't have enough time and resources to do so.  But we did work hard on the parachute.  Making sure that the stand hold the cone up and it will deploy.  So wish us luck and hope that we don't have as bad luck as we did today.

We're not sure if we should add fins or not...it might take too long, and if we can pass, we will be happy. The Japanese students should be arriving tomorrow before 4th period, so when we launch, they will be able to watch. I don't really think that the wind was at fault for our original rocket because most of the time it blew from midkiff side to Konia circle, not the other way around. Maybe the reason for the weird flight path was our fins in the first place, or the way we pulled the string. Anyway, we will be trying again with a new rocket tomorrow. I hope it works this time!

Water Bottle Rocket Fourth Launch with Cone and Wings

So today we did a fourth launch. The weather conditions were not the best...especially when we launched, but it was kind of neat. Despite the wind direction, because of the direction the bottle faced when Austin pulled the string, the bottle rocket flew into the direction of the wind. And then it hit a tree. It was pretty cool because the tree allowed the nose cone to fall of and the parachute to deploy.

I am hoping the wings controlled the rocket a little bit. It was difficult to tell as the wind was so heavy. We need to add weight to the nose cone so that the cone falls off next time. Also, I want to test the rocket tomorrow again. Also, I think something was loose when we pumped the rocket because I felt like it didn't go as high this time.

Hopefully Austin will post the video from his phone...

Austin Edit:

Okay its us again with another blog post.  So today we had the best luck.  We were to make a time limit of a minimum of 5 seconds.  So we added the wings and the cone to the bottle and we went to shoot the bottle.  So we went to launch the bottle and something happened because the wind was blowing in one direction and the bottle flew in the opposite direction.  So the video turned out terrible but it is decent enough to follow along.  What happened was that because it flew in the direction of the tree, the top cone hit the tree, which knocked it off, and the parachute deployed.  If it didn't hit the tree, the parachute wouldn't have deployed and we would have had to start again.  Unfortunately, we only had 7 seconds so we need to add (or subtract) things to our rocket so that we can make the 10 second time limit.  We did it a second time with a stand on the rocket, but they weren't high enough to hold the cone up.  So we need to make the stand higher for the cone to fall off easier.  Let's hope it works.

Fourth Launch

So today we did a fourth launch. The weather conditions were not the best...especially when we launched, but it was kind of neat. Despite the wind direction, because of the direction the bottle faced when Austin pulled the string, the bottle rocket flew into the direction of the wind. And then it hit a tree. It was pretty cool because the tree allowed the nose cone to fall of and the parachute to deploy.

I am hoping the wings controlled the rocket a little bit. It was difficult to tell as the wind was so heavy. We need to add weight to the nose cone so that the cone falls off next time. Also, I want to test the rocket tomorrow again. Also, I think something was loose when we pumped the rocket because I felt like it didn't go as high this time.

Hopefully Austin will post the video from his phone...

Water Bottle Rocket Third Launch with Parachute

So I wanted to start off with the video today.  So you would think that since we did this for like three days, we would be pretty good at filming.  I guess we were wrong because something happened with my iPod and it filmed it upside down.  But the evidence is still there, none the less.  Anyways, today went pretty well.  So last night I had to make a parachute chute.  It took me forever to get the darn measurements correct.  It was actually supposed to have a diameter of 34 inches, however, it only has 32 inches.  Which was funny because I did remember measuring 34 inches but whatever.  So today went well if you didn't see the video.  We were supposed to reach a 3 second time limit, and we nearly doubled it with 6 seconds.  Plus, the parachute deployed!  I assumed that if we had a nose, the results would have been better.  This is because of air resistance I'm guessing.  I'm going to go to Sports Authority on Sunday so Marisa and I can add it to the rocket.  Wish us luck!

Water Bottle Rocket Second Launch

Hey so the title today is kind of false in a way.  This is because we actually launched like 4 times and this would be our second or third launch.  Also this is the launch with our modifications done.  I believe that our first launch was RECORDED to be our longest launch, which lasted around 5 or 6 seconds in the air.  (The first launch was without any modifications)  But for today, we didn't have all of our materials, so we had to just lengthen (make it longer) our bottle today.  To do this, we just cut the bottom of one of our bottles and attached it to the other one.  We were going to add wings, but we didn't have materials to do it.  Tomorrow we will add the wings and the parachute.  So hopefully we can add another 5 or 6 seconds to our time.

Water Bottle Rocket First Launch

Today we practiced launching the soda bottles. In order to become familiar with the equipment, we decided to set up our own launchers. First we filled the bottle with 500 milliliters of water. (For the actual launch, we may use up to 1000 milliliters.) Because the water is the fuel, this is pretty important. Next, we set up the bottle with the rubber cork so that we would be able to create pressure that would enable our bottle to take off. We used the pump to create pressure in the bottle so that it would be able to fly. Our first attempt was pretty successful. Here's a picture of the bottle after the first attempt.

Unfortunately, our second attempt was not as lucky. It tipped over sideways and for a second someone was almost in danger of becoming bruised before her tennis match. I guess we'll try not to repeat that second time. Here's a funny video of that launch.

Because we want to add fins to the bottle using super glue, we will have to put water in the bottle as well as put the cap on the bottle. This will create pressure that will keep the bottle from losing its shape from the heat of the glue. (If that happens, we will be unable to use the bottle because it won't be able to launch correctly.)

Austin Edit:

So today we had the opportunity to launch our bottles into the air.  Marisa and I did it twice.  This is because the first time we did it almost perfect.  But we forgot to film it.  So we did it a second time.  The second time, however, got messed up.  I think that when I pulled the string connected to the bottle, I tipped it and it caused the bottle to tip over then shoot.  If you look closely to the video, you can see where it messed up.

Anyways, I think for the bottle itself, if I didn't mess it up, I think that we should indeed add wings to the bottle to help stabilize it.  And for the tip of the bottle, a rounded top would be very effective to the length of time in the air.  Hopefully the mass is very little, then all we have to worry about is minimizing the surface area, to prevent air resistance more.  Next time hopefully we can set it up a little better.