|
The forces on a bottle rocket
are the same as the forces on a real full-scale rocket during the
early portion of its flight. Aerodynamic forces provide stability
for the bottle rocket, while on-board guidance systems control
a real rocket.
What would happen if you filled a 2 liter bottle
with water and launched it?
We will use a wind tunnel to test our bottle in flight.
Most wind tunnels are horizontal. Ours is vertical
so that the water stays at the bottom of the bottle, just as it
would during launch.
The clamp holding the bottle in place is actually
a pivot, allowing the bottle to spin if conditions aren’t
correct. It is attached to the bottle at the bottle’s Center
of Gravity (CG). That’s the balance point for any object…the
weight of the object is equally distributed on either side of that
point.
--
Open the Wind Tunnel --
Ok, now select the "Start" button on the
wind tunnel page.
What did you find?
a)
The rocket was stable and worked fine. I’m going outside to
try it right now.
b)
The rocket was unstable and spun out of control.
c)
I'm not sure.
|
