Rocket Experimental Design

Hope & Mackenzie

A. Will changing the fin size on the rocket affect how far it launches?
B. If we decrease the size of the fins then the rocket will go farther because we are making it more
aerodynamic.
C.
How Far the Rocket Launches depends on fin size
Fin Size How Far the rocket launches (m) Average Distance
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 (m)
6in long and 4 out 57 72 42 57
4x4 30 21 33 28
7x5 55.5 69 51 58.5
Source: Mackenzie Heyboer&Hope Yonker, May 2010
D. We'll shoot the rockets from 45 degrees, use the same duct tape, we'll leave the top cap on, same
amount of water in the top and the same amount of water in the bottom.
E. big pop bottle, smaller pop bottle, duct tape, water, cardboard, scissors to cut fins
F.
-Get all the materials listed
-Cut out 3 fins for each of the sizes
-duct tape the bottom of the smaller bottle to the bottom of the big bottle, make sure it's on straight
-duct tape the fins onto the bottom bottle (bigger one) make sure thy are the same distance apart
-Put water in both the top and the bottom. (100mL of water in the top and 650mL in the bottom)
-Put the covers on the bottles
-The rocket is ready to be shot off-45 degree angle (take bottom cap off, put it on the launcher, set up
the launcher & pull the string)
 How Far the Rocket Launches depends on fin
G. Ok size
H. Ok
I. (graph above)

J. Our data does not support our hypothesis. We thought that if we decreased the size of the fin, then it
would fly better. Our data proved us wrong. The bigger our fins, the farther our rocket went. You can
see that the graph supports this. If we did this experiment again, we'd try to be more exact. We were
just putting duct tape anywhere and we weren't paying attention to any specific amount. We'd also
measure the water amount and how far apart the fins were with more accuracy.