Cover letter:

The objective of this project was to send a rocket into flight and achieve the highest
height possible and have a safe and graceful descent, all while making sure to consider
the concepts of quadratics, motion, acceleration, and Newton’s Laws. To do this we got
into partners and built bottle rockets that were propelled by water. While building our
rockets we followed the engineering design process, this is 7 steps that helped me stay
organized while constructing my rocket. These steps are: Ask, research, imagine, plan,
create, test, and improve. The engineer and design process goal is to keep us organized
while building our rockets and ensure that we are able to test and refine enough for our
final rocket. In the task step our job was to decide what our goal was, which is to create a
working rocket with a deployment system with plastic water bottles. In the research phase
we looked at past students' rockets , what they had done right and wrong and how
different forces affect our rockets. Then in the imagine and plan phase we began creating
blueprints of things we think would work well. In the test phase we tested our rockets to
see what we could improve on or keep the same. And then we would go to work
improving our rockets. Then the process would repeat until we were sure our rocket was
ready for launch. We had to repeat the test and improve the process alot to in order to
come up with our final rocket.
In math we were learning about that in order to make a successful rocket I had to
understand how velocity, acceleration, gs, frame of reference, and free fall affect my
rocket. Velocity is the direction and speed at which our rockets are moving during launch.
Acceleration is the change in velocity during the flight of our rockets. “G’s” is the
acceleration due to gravity, or what is slowing our rocket down as it reaches its peak.
Frame of reference is how we measured our rockets flight, it is needed to describe our
rockets motion. Free fall is when the only thing acting on our rockets is gravity making
them either slow down on the way up or speed up on the way down. In math we were
also learning how quadratics play a part in the flight of rockets. The quadratic formula
represents the rocket's position/time, because the rocket slows down as it goes up and
speeds up as it falls down; the quadratic equation is a curve. We found that a quadratic
equation has x^2 in it.
In physics class we learned that velocity can be measured with distance/time this
means that velocity is how fast the rocket is propelled into the air not only speed wise but
also directionally. We also learned in physics that acceleration and velocity go hand in
hand in fact acceleration is the change of velocity. In physics we also recognised the part
that newton's laws play in our rockets during their flight, for example newton's first law
states that “An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at
constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force (inertia :the
tendency for an object to continue at its current state until acted on). This applies to our
rocket because once the rocket is launched it should continue in a straight line for as long
as possible even with no water left to expel the only thing slowing it down and changing
ikts path is gravity. So in the rockets instance the outside force is gravity and theinertia is
from the water that was previously expelled. Newtons 2nd law states “the acceleration of
an object is directly related to the net force and inversely related to its mass.” This means
the heavier the object the more force needed to be applied to go the same speed as a
lighter object that requires less force. Newtons 3rd law states “for every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction.” This is represented by our rockets take off, because our
rocket applies a certain amount of force applies the same force to the water and air from
the chamber but that same force shoots the rocket up into flight.

Calculations:
Max Height:
The way we calculated our max height was by using an inclinometer 60 feet away.
The inclometer measures the angle of the rocket at its max height. My rockets max
height angle was 43.53 and by using Tangent because I new my adjacent was 60
and my angle was 43.53 what I was rying to find was the opposite, for this my
equation ended up being tan(69.1)=x/100 or 100(tan(69.1))=x=262.5. I found that
my rockets max height was 57.90 meters (190 ft).
Initial Velocity:
To find my rockets initial velocity I watched the close up video of my rockets launch and
counted the frames it took for my rocket to pass the reference post which was 1.7 meters
tall. Because I know that we were filming our rockets take off at 60 frames per second
and my rocket took 3 frames to pas the reference post I divided 3 by 30 and got 0.1
meaning it took m y rocket 0.1 seconds to pass the reference post. Than I converted that
into my equation; 1.7/0.1=17 this means that 17 is my rockets initial velocity.

Force of Gravity With and Without Water:

In order to calculate the acceleration due to gravity on my rocket we used
Newtons 2nd law of motion, a=f/m (acceleration=force/mass). I started by
weighting my rocket both with and without water, than I used the equation Fg=mg
on both the full and empty rockets weight.
Empty rocket equation: 0.154kg x 9.81m/s^2=1.55979
Full rocket equation: 0.976kg x 9.81m/s^2= 9.57456

Thrust Force:
To find the thrust force I started by counting the frames it took from my rockets
launch to when my rocket runs out of water, and once again divided it by 30. Than
I divided it by 17m/s^2 t2 get 102m/s^2 (equation: 17/0.1666=102m/s^2). Than I
multiplied that by the acceleration my rocket (full of water) uses during take off
(9.574 x 102= 976.54). Than I used that number plus the the mass of my rocket
(9.574+976.54=977.54) this means the thrust of my rocket was 977.54 m/s^2.

Theoretical Flight Time:

To find the theoretical flight time of my rocket I plugged the tree factore factors that
affect the theoretical flight time of my rocket: 0.3 (the height of the launcher), -5 (half of
the gravity affecting my rocket), 17 (the starting velocity of my rocket). I plugged this
information into the quadratic formula calculator we as a class had made a couple of
weeks before (Shown below). This gave me my theoretical floght time: 3.41755 seconds.
Descent Velocity:
In order to find out the decent velocity of my rocketI counted the number of frames from
when it reached max height to landing down on the ground. Than I divided that number
by 30 because the video films at 60 frames per seconds, this gave me 12.5333s. Than I
divided the distance traveled (max height [57.9]) by the time time it took for the rocket to
reach the ground (12.5333). I ended up with 4.6209.
Equation: 57.9/12.5333=4.6209
 Discusion and Analaysis:

Pre-Launch: Before launch the rocket is still, and a 3rd of the way
filled with water normal force (Fn [9.54]) and gravity force (Fg [9.54])
are even. The only thing really changing is the pressure within the
rocket. These two forces are equal because the rocket is not yet moving. Pre launch uses
newtons 1st law because the rocket should remain on the launch pad until trigger is
pulled and the pressure built up is released.

Take off:During takeoff the thrust force (Ft[977.54]) is larger than the gravity force
(Fg[9.54]). This makes the rocket fly upward. These forces are uneven because the rocket
is acceleration upward and has not yet reached its max speed. Newtons 2nd law states
that the acceleration of an object depends on two variables: the net force acting
on an object and the mass of an object. This means the acceleration of our rockets
during take off is directly proportional to the net force acting on the body and
inversely proportional to the mass of the body. Take off also has to do with
newtons first law, before take off the rocket is at rest, when the trigger is pulled
the rocket is release from the launch pad and the pressure built up in the rocket is
release sending the rocket up into the air.

Rising flight: During rising flight there is no force propelling the

rocket upward, only inertia from the previously expelled water and
gravity (Fg[1.55]) that is starting to slow the rocket down. You’ll
notice in my past diagrams that the rockets gravity is 1.55 rather than
9.54 this is because all of the rockets water has been expelled from the
rocket so now there is less mass meaning risoing flight also correlates with newtons law
because once the rockets water has been expelled the gravity needed to slow the rocket
down is less than with water.

Controlled Decent: During controlled decent there are two even forces
working on the rocket one is drag force (Fd[1.55]) drag is letting the
rocket fall but not as fast as gravity is pulling.. And gravity force
(Fg[1.55]) gravity is pulling the rocket down. These two forces are even
but only once the falling raocket has reached its terminal velocity. Now
that the rocket is falling with no water in it the gravity working with it to
make it fall is less because the rocket is now less massive.
 Reflection/Conference:

Leadership and Teamwork:

The biggest problem I had during this project was my partner and our group dynamic. I
wasn't there when we selected our partners, so I was paired with someone I didn't know
well and had heard wasn't the best at contributing to group tasks. Being a perfectionist, I
often choose to work alone to accomplish the grade I want. Throughout this project, I
started to take more and more control over my group and worked alone for a lot of the
project. My partner and I hardly spoke and kept our distance, which is not how a group
should operate. My partner decided to tell the teacher and I got a new partner two days
before the exhibition. For me, this went better. The partner I was with understood how I
liked to do things alone, but I also learned to let go and trust my partner to do their part.
Throughout this project I learned that I like to be a leader and I like to create work that
makes me proud.

Successes and Takeaways:

● My rocket was more successful than I thought it would be, I was not very
confident in my rocket going into the final launch. I had been crushed for time at
the end and was not sure it was even going to fly or come down safely.
● I am very happy with the journey and outcome of my rocket. I learned alot from
the mistakes I made along the way. One example of this was my first tester launch
of my rocket. My rocket ended up nose diving, from this I got right back to work
refining my rocket. Making my fins smaller and more evenly placed, cutting down
my nose cone and making sure it was on straight.
● I would say one of my successes was refinement and perseverance, I had to make
and remake fins for my rocket probably like 100 times this is because I could
never get them just right so everytime I laser cut my fins there was always
something I could fix or do better. This stressed me out alot and made me mad but
I persevered and finally got fins I was happy with. To next years sophomores I
would say keep going even when it is annoying or stressful, it will help you in the
end.
● If I did this project again I think I would definitely splice my rocket and take more
time centering the fins. I did not splice my rocket this time because I was scared of
it exploding or rather than helping my rocket it would make it heavier. But if I did
 it again I would splice and take the risk. Also I had been having a very hard time
making sure my fins were evenly placed, even when I used the fin template it was
hard to ensure they were evenly placed.
● A hurdle I had during this project was my partner. The day we picked our partners
I was gone so I got put with someone I did not know very well and had heard in
the past that they weren't as good at contributing to group projects. I am also a
perfectionist and sometimes I decide to do things alone if I want it to look a certain
way. Throughout this project I became more and more controlling over my group
and just started doing it all by myself and my partner did the same. They kept their
distance and we rarely talked which is not how a group should work. Once my
partner got fed up they decided to tell and teacher and I got a new partner 2 days
away from final launch. My new partner worked when I asked and helped me as
much as they could, they were also more understanding of why I like to do things
myself.

Engineering Design Process:

● ASK: during the ask phase I was trying to develop an idea of all of the criteria I
had to meet and all of the things affecting my rocket
● RESEARCH:during the research phase I was successful, we looked at past rockets
to see what they did well and what they did not do well.
● IMAGINE: during the imagine phase we planned our rockets. We made our first
blueprint and thought about what parachute system we would want.
● PLAN: in the plan phase we got the necessary materials and finalized our
blueprints.
● CREATE: Then we began creating our rockets according to the blue prints.
● TEST: and in the test phase we tested and tested our rockets we had to make sure
they had all of the requirements for the final exhibition.
● IMPROVE: during the improve phase we fixed our rocket according to what went
wrong in the test phase.

Learner:
● I grew as a mathematician in many ways. One significant moment of growth was
when I learned that the quadratic formula was the flight of the rocket but the
rockets change in position and velocity over a period of time.