Experimental Design Diagrams AMOUNT OF WATER IN TOP.

A. Will the amount of water in the top of the bottle affect how far the rocket flies?
B. If we fill the bottle with less water then it will go farther because there is less weight in it.
C.

Rocket Distance
Depends on Amount of
Water in Top.
Am Distance Ave
oun Flown(m) rage
t of (m)
Wat
er
in
Top
(ml)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Trial 6 Trial 7 Trial 8
5 92 99 97 95 91 95 105 99 96.6
10 89 91 91 87 85 90 86 89 88.5
15 75 79 76 80 74 74 79 75 76.5
Source: Sarah
Seabolt and Josie
VanLangevelde

D. Controlled variables: amount of water, size of the bottle, height launched from, amount of water in
top, wing size, wing shape,
E. You need two bottles; one 2 liter and one 20 oz. You need duct tape to hold the bottles together.
You also need cardboard to make the wings and water to fill the bottle.
F. First we made our rocket. All you need is two bottles(20 oz. And a 2 liter). You also need duct tape.
You then tape the bottles. You put the bottom of one to the bottom of the other. The last thing you need
is cardboard. You create your wings (3 ¾ by 2 ½ for ours). Tape those on also. It is better if you cover
those with tape so that they do not get wet. Then you are ready to launch. You go to the
launcher(outside) and find a water source. You fill the bottom bottle halfway and the top bottle either
5, 10, or 15 milliliters. You only need a cap on the top of the bottle. You push the bottom onto the
pole(make sure it is all the way down) and pull and clip the two silver things together. Then turn the red
handle while pushing down and wait until it fills with pressure. Then turn the red nozzle back to it's
original position and back away. Have one person pull the yellow string. Record the lengths and change
the amount of water in top after a certain amount of trials.

G. Graph your data on Excel. (Use the graphing guidelines.)

H. Write a conclusion.
 1. Our data supports our hypothesis. We said in our hypothesis that if there was less water, it
would go further; and it did. It went further when we only filled the top to ¼ rather than ½ or ¾.
The averages show the decline in the length flown and you can see on the graph that as the
amount of water increases, the distance flown decreases. The graph is a negative slope.
2. What changes would you make if you did the experiment again and why? (Be specific to the
individual experiment…NOT “Be more accurate” “Do more trials”) If I did this experiment
again I would mark the measurements more exact to the meters instead of estimating the in-
between. I would also have a new pair of wings for every few trials so they would not get wet
and change the results. I would also change more variables, such as add more angles to test.
Experimental Design Diagrams ANGLE OF TRAJECTORY.

I. Will the angle of trajectory affect how far the rocket flies?
J. If we have a higher angle then the rocket will go farther because It has more height to go forward
with.
K.

Rocket Distance Depends

on Angle of Trajectory
Angle of Rocket Distance(m)
Trajectory
Trial Trial Trial Trial Trial Trial Trial Trial 8 Average Rocket
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Distance(m)

55 75 83 74 79 77 78 81 82 78.6
45 92 81 85 90 88 85 91 87 87.3
35 67 72 65 72 63 62 70 71 67.7
Sarah Seabolt
Josie VanLangevelde, May 2010

L. Controlled variables: size of the bottle, height launched from, amount of water in top, wing size,
angle of trajectory, wing shape,
M. You need two bottles; one 2 liter and one 20 oz. You need duct tape to hold the bottles together.
You also need cardboard to make the wings.

F. Set the angle of the trajectory on the rocket shooter to the designated angle. Fill the water half way in
the bottom bottle and ½ in the top bottle. Put the bottle on the rocket shooter and turn the orange dial,
wait till its filled with air, and pull the string. Count how far it goes and that is your data for each trial.

G. Our data proved our hypothesis wrong. Our hypothesis stated that if we have a higher angle then the
rocket will go farther because It has more height to go forward with. Our data showed how if the angle
was closer to 45 degrees that it would go farther. If I had to redo our rocket experiment I would have
applied the wings on tighter. I also would have made the wings a tad bigger and made sure our bottle
wasn't crushed or dented when it took off. That could change its distance.