WING SIZE

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN:
Question: Will changing the size of the wings affect the way the rocket flies?

Hypothesis: I think that bigger wings will affect the way the rocket flies because
the wings will catch the air more and can be turned more easily.

Independent Variable: The size of the wings

Dependent Variable: How far the rocket will fly with bigger wings

Constants: -same rocket

-material wings are made of
-height of where wings are placed on rocket
-same fuel
-angle of launch

Materials Needed: -2 2L pop bottle

-2 20oz pop bottle
-cardboard for wings
-duct tape (to hold it all together)
Procedure:
MAKING THE ROCKET:
(1) Collect all the pop bottles you need
(2) Give 1 2L and 1 20oz to each person in your group (there should be 2 people)
(3) Get cardboard
(4) Design 3 wings that are all the same [eventually you will need to make sets of
3 wings all different sizes and shapes]
(5) Turn 2L upside down so it’s cap is on the bottom and the “legs” are up
(6) Balance 20oz bottle on the 2L’s “legs” [make sure the 20oz is in the middle]
(7) Once you have the 20oz positioned, duct tape the 20oz onto the 2L securely.
[make sure that the 20oz’s cap is pointing up and the “legs” are ontop of the
2L’s “legs”]
(8) Mark where the wings are to be placed [all need to be equally apart and
equally up on the bottle]
(9) Begin to duct tape the wings on

TESTING THE ROCKET

1- Launch your rocket [fill with 1000mL of water and air pressure]
2- Measure in poles [3 meters for every pole] how far it goes
3- Record measurement’s into data table
4- Take off current wings
5- Add on a new pair of wings
6- Repeat steps 1- through 5-
Conclusion:
My hypothesis was correct. The bigger the wings were, the farther the rocket
would go. If I could change one thing about this experiment I would have
Mr.Sportel tell us that we need about 30 - 40 launches in all between our
partners. I would have worked faster and shot of more than just 3 launches of the
wings.

Table:
Size of wings affects rocket flight
Dimensions of Trial 1 (m) Trial 2 (m) Trial 3 (m) Average (m)
Wings

.5 by 1.75 33 42 48 41

2.5 by 3.75 66 70 81 72

4.5 by 5.75 81 78 81 80
Source: Jordan & Sydney 2010