Rocket Science

Project

Malik Qader B4
Abstract
In this experiment what was first done was measuring the force of engines over time.
Then calculations to find the drag coefficient on the rocket were done. Then calculations to
predict the height of the rocket if it goes straight up were done. Unfortunately, only one of the
rockets actually went really straight up and the predicted height for that one match up pretty
well. The other rockets that had slight curve heights, so they went slightly under the predicted
height.
Introduction
This project was done to give the students an experience of real life physics by using all the
previous concepts they learned previously. This project gives the students experience in real life
kinematics and the topic of dynamics. There are some terms that must be defined to understand
this document.
Momentum: This can be defined as “mass in motion” If there is no mass or no velocity then
momentum is zero. The equation is P=m*v, where P is momentum and m is mass and v is
velocity.

Thrust Analysis Section

Introduction:
The purpose of this lab was to measure the amount of thrust the engine was giving out
over time to figure out the type of engine that was being used. An engine and a device that can
measure force when pushed against. The device was linked up to a computer program called
“Logger Pro”. The settings set to trigger and record a sample every tenth of a second for 10
seconds. It would be triggered on 1 N of force and kept one second worth of data prior to the
trigger point. The trigger function starts recording data when the device senses usually a change
of for in a set range. Before the test the device was “zeroed” this was done to avoid faulty
readings because the device might not be calibrated correctly. The force data in newtons was
negative, this is because the program sees pulling forces as positive and pushing forces negative.
In this case the engine was pushing against the device.

To ignite the engine, a battery was used to send current through the wiring in the rocket.
The wiring in the rocket is covered in phosphorus and when heated up will flame then ignite the
fuel in the engine.

This is what it looks like:

Photograph by Ben Hulleberg

Data:
Time Force
0.0 0.00 Force N Force over Time Seconds
0.1 1.91
10.00
0.2 9.12
0.3 8.00 9.00
0.4 5.50
0.5 5.38 8.00
0.6 5.14
0.7 4.98 7.00
0.8 4.98
0.9 4.65 6.00
1.0 4.89
5.00

4.00

3.00
 1.1 4.98
1.2 4.80
1.3 4.71
1.4 4.74
1.5 4.84
1.6 4.74
1.7 4.86
1.8 5.07
1.9 4.92
2.0 0.00

The total impulse can be roughly found by splitting up the area under the line into
multiple rectangles then adding up their areas. Force multiplied by time is impulse. The impulse
is roughly equal to 10.75 n/s.

The letter means impulse of the engine

in Newton Seconds. Each letter doubles the
newton amount from the letter before it. A starts
at 2.5 N then B is 5N and C is 10 newton. The
number next to it is the average force it gives
off. The last number means the time between
the engine finishing thrust and ejection fuel
igniting.

In the case of the data to find the average force, the samples of force must be added up
then divided by the number of samples taken. This is a manual method, I used Excel automatic
average function to be faster. I found that the average force is 5.17N. Upon this discovery I
would say that the engine is of B type. However, in actuality the engine was C6 engine. This was
due to a mistake in the experiment design.
What could have gone wrong?
 The friction between the engine pushing and the force measuring device could have been
the reason why the average force was half of what it should be
 The engine was not horizontal relative to the force measuring device. This probably is the
biggest reason the force was not high enough.

Drag Force Analysis Section

Introduction:
The purpose of this lab was to determine the drag coefficient of the rocket. Knowing the
drag coefficient is because it is needed calculate the air resistance and to ultimately graph the
rockets flight path. Drag coefficients depend on the shape and size of the object. More curves
and less flat surfaces hitting the air make lower coefficients. At lower velocities air resistance
does not make much of a difference. But since the rocket is going very fast air resistance makes a
big difference in how high or how far it will go. That is why aerodynamics is researched when
making a car, because the more aerodynamic, the less the drag coefficient is and better gas
mileage.
The force of air resistance is proportional the square of the velocity. The equation is: F
drag= KV^2.
To find the drag coefficient the experiment was setup up like this. A wind tunnel that can pull air
in with a speed of 37 m/s and with a rocket hanging from a string inside of it. Behind the rocket
is a protractor that is aligned with the string at 90 degrees.
 This is the wind tunnel. The
arrow is pointing the
direction the wind is flowing.

This is the rocket that will be

launched. The 61 g is the weight of
the rocket in grams. The wind tunnel
will be turned on and the wind will
push back the rocket. During this the
angle the string is a will be noted.
This should be done at least three
times then average the angles for
more accuracy.

This picture is inside the front of the

wind tunnel looking at the head of
the rocket. The honey comb shape is
designed to reduce turbulence to be
able to get better angle readings.
Here is the rocket’s free body diagram, which is needed to derive the equations to find the drag
coefficient.

Here is the derivation to find the equation that

equals drag force. Then once that is found, now
put that number back in this equation: F drag=
KV^2. Now solve for K, and then the
coefficient will be known. The equation for K
is: K=mg*tan(theta)/v^2 The average angle
found was 27 degrees; the weight in kilograms
is 0.0061. After doing some math described
above the drag coefficient ended up being
0.000511 N*s^2/m^2.

Numerical Model Section

Introduction:
The purpose of this lab is to calculate the maximum height the rocket will go. There are
4 rockets and 3 different types of engines. To make the predictions easier a excel spreadsheet

was created to list the heights, after inputting the weight

of the rocket and type of engine.

This is the rocket’s free-body diagram. This will help explain the equations that were used in the
excel spreadsheet.

To find the maximum predicted height in the excel worksheet look in the column “Final
Height”. Then find the biggest number in that column and that will be the maximum height.
Here is the predicted values for the two rockets in group A:
 EngineType Rocket type Maximum Height Weight

A8 Big White 23.8 m 93 g

B6 Big White 64.0 m 96 g
C6 Big White 168 m 102 g
A8 Gold/Black 28.2 m 85 g
B6 Gold/Black 71.9 m 88 g
C6 Gold/Black 179 m 94 g

The air resistance makes a big difference in predictions of height. The drag coefficient for both
of these rockets is .0005. Without the drag force the rocket’s height becomes something like this:

C6 Gold/Black 413 m 94 g

The height now is about double of what it was before.

The time when the rocket runs out of fuel to when it pops out the parachute is very
crucial. The engine C6-5 had 5 seconds delay before the parachute popped out. The timing is
important because it pops out early the parachute will slow down the rocket, and if it pops out
too late then it may crash.
The range of error is important because it shows how accurate the prediction was. This
can be done by adding and subtracting .00005 to the drag coefficient. The actual height should
be in a range of 161-186 m.

Flight Results Section

To prepare the rocket for launch there were a few necessary things. There must be
wadding between the parachute and engine so the parachute wont burn. There is an igniter that is
put inside of the engine and held there by a plastic pink plug. The igniter had two wires coming
out of it which will be connected to a battery. The battery will the send electricity to the igniter
and the engine will ignite. The rocket is on a launch pad and is attached to a wire about 2.5 m
tall. This will help the rocket go straight upwards during the entire flight.
There were three observers that were positioned 50 meters from the launch pad and
would measure the angle of the rocket. They used a homemade sextant and measure the angle
with an accuracy of about +-5. Rockets tend to curve and to help preserve accuracy the angles
taken at different spots helps this. There will be 1.5 m added to the heights because that is the
height the observers observed the rocket
angles.

Side view

The height can be found using the law of tan. After averaging the angles plug it into the equation
and get the height.

Even with 3 observer’s accuracies is not very good. If the rocket curves then it will not
reach its predicted height plus the angles will be all wrong, making it difficult to get an actual
height. Plus, even when the rocket does go fairly straight, with the C engine’s the rocket can go
so high the observers could lose track and get inaccurate angles.