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PROJECT FIVE:

FOAM ROCKET

MATERIALS:

  • 1/2 inch pipe insulation (cut it at 30 cm)

  • #64 rubber bands (1) 

  • 8 inch zip ties (3)

  • Heavy duty string (cut at 1 meter)

To the right is a picture of the completed rocket. Below are a few pictures of our process as we assembled our rocket! 

DATA TABLE

ENERGY TRANSFER

Like the Inverminator Project (Project 2) I previously did on this website, the energy transfer process is pretty similar; the sun is the source of energy for this project. The sun helped the grain to grow, the grain became my cereal, I ate the cereal, giving me the kinetic energy to launch the rock. The rocket's inertia (its stubbornness and tendency to keep moving once it was launched) kept it moving through the air, until an unbalanced force (gravity) stopped it. 

WHY DID THE ROCKET TRAVEL IN AN ARC?

The rocket's intertia, as I previously stated above, is its tendency and stubbornness to keep moving. But because gravity is the unbalanced force in this scenario, its inertia is halted. The rocket's potential energy is overpowered by the unbalanced force of gravity, and is forced down, thus creating an arc shape. The arc shape is determined by the angle the rocket was launched in; the arc is broader when the angle is smaller, but when the angle is larger, like the launch from 90 degrees, the arc is shorter and steeper. 

PROPULSIONS

The propulsion for the foam rocket is different than the propulsion for a real rocket because the foam rocket has nothing to keep it driving forward. Real rockets have motors and fans and propellants that keep it going forward because they overpower the force of gravity until they reach space. Foam rockets are only propelled forward from the initial launch energy. The energy is overpowered by the unbalanced force of gravity, causing it to fall in an arc. 

GRAPH

PROJECT FIVE (continued):

PAPER AIRPLANES

CONTROLLED VARIABLES:

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE:

  • Construction paper (all of my planes are made from the same type of construction paper, although they are different colors

  • How I threw each plane (I threw each plane the same way)

  • Weight of each plane (each plane was constructed out of one piece of paper and had 1 paper clip inside of it)

  • Design of each plane

The object of this part of the project is to figure out what airplane design will fly the farthest out of the three airplanes I have designed and threw.

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO FIGURE OUT?

PINK PLANE

YELLOW PLANE

BLUE PLANE

DATA TABLE

GRAPH

CONCLUSION

I think the paper airplane follows the same pattern as the foam rocket I made in the above project. My kinetic energy created a push to make it go forward, and the inertia of the paper airplane kept it in motion until the unbalanced forced of gravity acted upon it. The gravitational force outweighed the inertia the airplane had, forcing it to come down. But I think the aerodynamic design I used for each plane gave it more of an ability to stay in flight. I also think the weight I added to it made it go farther. Like the Inverminator project, we found that weight would make it go farther, so I added paper clips to make the airplanes travel even farther. I am curious to see how they would travel without the added weight!

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