Experimental Design Diagrams Name HR

A. State your question... How does the amount of water in the nose, depend on how far the
rocket will fly?
B. Make a prediction showing what you think will happen in the experiment.
If…(something happens) Then…(what is the outcome) Because…(why you think this) If
there is to much water in the nose then the rocket won't fly as far because the rocket will be
top heavy and won't fly far.
C. Create a data table.
1. When making a data table, follow the example given and be sure that…
2. It has a brief descriptive title in the form of “(dependent variable) DEPENDS ON (independent
variable)”
3. The first column is for the independent variable, the one you are changing.
4. The next column(s) are for trials of the dependent variable.
5. The last column is for the best value (average) of the dependent variable.
6. The columns of data begin with a label naming the variable and the units in which it is
measured. Be sure to include the units of the variables, as shown below.
7. The data are entered as numbers only.
8. The last row should contain the source of the data.

Amount of Water Depends on How Far it Flies

Amount of Water Distance (m) Average
in nose cone (ml) distance (m)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
50 53 59 56
100 63 61 62
150 78 74 76
400 58 54 56

Source: Luke Brower and Toby Blom

D. List 5 controlled variables. Angle of launch, wings, wing placement, rocket, amount of psi.
E. List the materials needed for the experiment. Duct tape, 2 liter pop bottle, 20 ounce pop
bottle, water, card board (wings), air compressor, and a launcher.
F. Write out a step by step procedure for carrying out the experiment.
*Someone should be able to repeat your experiment from your procedure. Place the 2 liter
pop bottle upside down and put the 20 ounce pop bottle on top of it right side up. Duct
tape them together so they are stable. Make 3 5x10 card board wings and tape them on
the 2 liter bottle so they are evenly spaced. Fill up the 20 ounce bottle with
50/100/150/400ml of water. (The amount of water depends on the trial.) Fill the 2 liter
bottle with 400ml of water for every experiment. Then launch the rocket.

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G. Check your experimental design diagram with your instructor and carry out the
experiment.
H. Fill in the data table.
I. Graph your data on Excel. (Use the graphing guidelines.)

J. Write a conclusion.
1. Does your data support your hypothesis? Why or why not? (Describe by referring to
your data! Be sure you talk about your data and graph.) Yes our data supports our
hypothesis because we said that the more water that was in the nose cone the shorter
it will fly. In our data we put 400ml of water in the nose cone and the average distance
was 56. When there was only 150 ml in the nose cone the rockets average was 76.
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 make sure there was no wind so there wouldn't be any extra
air resistance. Another thing that would be good would to do more trials because then
your data would be more accurate.

17699206.doc