OPTIMIZING A WATER ROCKET FOR MAXIMUM RANGE DOC

Title	OPTIMIZING A WATER ROCKET FOR MAXIMUM RANGE
Author	Gary Bent
Pages	14
File Size	70.5 KB
File Type	DOC
Total Downloads	133
Total Views	341

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OPTIMIZING A WATER ROCKET FOR MAXIMUM RANGE Gary D. Bent and Kedron Silsbee Science Department E.O. Smith High School, Storrs, CT 06250 This paper came about because of a science fair project by one of us (KS). The project was to make a stable rocket from a two-liter soda bottle, and then use this rocket to optimize the amount of water, firing angle, and mass of the rocket to achieve the greatest range (horizontal distance). Pressure was not a variable because we used 120 psi gauge as the pressure for every launch. Our goal was to obtain a range that would be greater than 150 meters. Many teachers have used water rockets as a fun activity to engage students in a real-world problem in mechanics.1-4 Kagan et al.2 and a group of Society of Physics students fired pressurized, two-liter soda bottles. They developed a numerical model for the propulsion and compared it with experimental data. Finney3 used small water rockets with his physics class. They developed a numerical model and compared it to an estimated apogee height. Both investigators launched their rockets vertically. Kagan et al.2 did not use nose cones or fins to stabilize their bottles, so their bottles only flew straight during propulsion. After propulsion, they tumbled and the model did not apply. Finney3 incorrectly assumed an isothermal 1...