Rocket Lab

By: Nathan Nguyen

Mr.Hendricks
B4

12/21/2016
 Abstract
In the lab that was conducted, three different rockets were shot off with different
types of engines for each rocket. Before the rockets were shot off there were predictions
of height for each rocket with their respective engines, then gained the actual height of
the rockets afterwards . There was one bad run as a result of the rockets launched
Rockets/Engines Predicted Heights Measured Heights

Red/Silver B6 77 m 85 m

Red/Yellow B6 115 m 125 m

Red/Yellow C6 145 m 155 m

Small White A 87 m 97 m

Red/Silver C6 98 m 109 m
.

Introduction
This experiment or lab that was conducted was used to figure out how high each
rocket will go based. To define this number the lab deals with various factors that need
to be calculated such as:
Kinematics the mechanics of the motion of the object under no force
Dynamics the mechanics of the motion of the object with actions of force on it
Impulse the momentum change in the object
Drag force the force pushing back on an object as it moves through the air
Drag coefficients the number used to define the drag force.
Momentum the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass
and velocity
Using the impulse/momentum theory equation Delta p = F*Delta T and deriving to make
it it true, changing delta p to J, J=F*Delta T, then that converts to j=m(V/t)delta T, then
converts to J=mvf-mvi, finally reaching to J= Pf-Pi, then J= deltaP. This equation can
help in finding the impulse. Many different rockets were used in the experiment. As
shown above in the table there were the various rockets used and were used to find the
maximum height of each one. Each engine is different and have specific numbers for
specific reasons. A engine means it has a thrust of 2.5, B engine means the thrust 5, C
engine is 10, D engine is 20, etc. The first number means average thrust and the
second number means the delay time for the parachute. The main method of finding the
height is using a numerical iteration, a numerical iteration is basically a method using a
table to figure out the heights using various equations. This method can easily figure it
out because by using Microsoft excel it can solve the numbers easily to figure it out. The
way it works is that by using

Engine Thrust Analysis

Engine thrust analysis is the analysis measurements of a rocket before it can be
launched in the air, it is used to figure out how much force the rocket exerts, many items
were used in this experiment: A railway track, a cart, a motion compressor box, a
battery, tape, a book, a box, and a rocket engine.The track was used as a way to line up
both the cart and the digital force gauge next to each other, the tape was used to hold
down the box and cart so it wont fly off, A book was used to prop the track up so it can
fire easier.The box was taped to the . The rocket was connected to a battery, that
battery was connected to the rocket using a wire with phosphorus on the tip of it, that
wire was connected to the box in the back of the
rocket. The battery was turned on and the rocket
had ignited. The measurements of the rocket were
taken by a calculator using the DATAMATE
program. The calculator was set to measure only
past a tenth of a second as a measurement. The
calculator was also set to measure only for 3
seconds, with 30 data samples for the graph. The
calculator had the triggering set to channel 1, The
triggered number was set to decreasing, the trigger
threshold was also set to -2. Only 10% of the data
was set on to Pre Storing. The calculator was
connected to the rocket for the measurements.The
data is re zeroed to compensate for the book
propping the rail. The numbers of result of the
calculator turns into negative numbers, but is changed to positive to make sense.

How to figure out the type of engine:

The impulse is defined as force multiplied by time to figure out how to do achieve the
answer needed, it can be done by finding the area under the curve of the graph, this
can be done by creating rectangles out of the graph, each rectangle represents force
over time, since that is the area of each rectangle, all the areas can be added up
together to get the type of rocket engine, only the forces that are greater than zero can
be added. After the areas are added the average is needed to be taken out of it. The
number comes out to be 4.37 then is rounded up to 5 because 2.5 is too low. The result
is that it is a B engine,The definition of impulse is used to solve for what type of B
engine is used, the time of .9 and the known impulse is used to solve for it. The average
force becomes 4.86 then is rounded up to 5. The B engine though that the teacher gave
out the information for the engine was that is was a B6 engine. The reason it was 5
instead of 6 because the track had shifted so the numbers were slightly off.
The results of the rocket:
0 0

.1 0

.2 0

.3 1.3N

.4 4.6N

.5 9.5N

.6 5.7N

.7 6.3N

.8 4.1N

.9 4.1N

1 4.2N

1.1 4.2N

1.2 4.1N

1.3 3.9N

1.4 3.8N

1.5 3.7N

1.6 3.6N

1.7 3.6N

1.8 3.5N

1.9 3.5N

This chart above represents the force over time. For every a tenth of a second the force
would increase to a certain amount and then decrease after reaching its maximum
height it would decrease. The maximum height that was reached was roughly around
4.1~4.2 N of thrust.
 There was only 3 out of
the 4 rockets engines used for this experiment, Each engine contains a different about
of thrust in them, the a8 engine is 2.5, B6 Engine is 5, C6 engine is 10, and A3 is
about 1.25. These graphs represent thrust over time per seconds.

Drag Force

Introduction:
In this part of the lab, the test was to measure how much air resistance the rocket
will be affected by. To measure this type of thing, by using a
rocket with a wind tunnel. Many items will be used to test
this experiment.
One rocket
One giant wind tunnel
One string
One protractor

Setup:
1. One rocket is placed inside of the wind tunnel
2. A protractor is attached to the inside of the wind tunnel
near the top.
3. A string is attached on the top so the line matches up to the
middle of the protractor.
4. The rocket is then attached to the bottom of the string.
5. There is a honeycomb frame on each side of the end of the tunnels.(This is to make
sure the air flows in a straight line that all over).
6. The angle is acquired when the rocket pushed back from the wind tunnel.

Measurements

There are many forces acting on

the rocket as it is moving in the tunnel. The force of gravity or mg is pulling it down, the
tension of the string is holding it so the tension of the rope is a force, and the force of air
resistance is also exerted on the rocket. Numbers acquired that were given from the
teacher were Mass= 61 grams, speed of 12m/s, angle of 32
Now that the free body diagram is complete of the rocket, the equation of the rocket is
needed. The vectors are broken into multiple pieces. The T or tension force will become
Tsin0,(0 is theta), and Tcos0.The X component is needed to be solved for, but into a
sigma F= Ma and the equation is split up into Fd which is derived from the equation of
drag force which is Fd=kV^2, -Tsin0 = 0 which then becomes Fd= Tsin0, but since there
is two unknowns more equations have to be solve for the y component as well. Sigma F
=ma but for the y component this time. It is then broken up so that it would become
Tcos0 - mg = 0 which then solve for T so the equation will work, the equation becomes
then T= mg/cos0 to get T by itself. The equations combine with substitution so that the
equations will be solved for Fd, so Mg/cos0 is placed for every T, since the equation of
Fd=Tsin0 it will become Fd= MgSin0/cos0. Since it is sin over cos it can become tan
instead because tan= sin/cos. So the equation will be Fd= Mgtan. The numbers are
plugged in, the grams are converted to kg because of standard physics units, .
061(9.8)tan32=? The answer acquired is .374N. The drag coefficient of the rocket is to
be solved for next, the drag force equation of fd=kV^2 where k is equal to the drag
coefficient is the equation used to solve for it. To solve for this change the equation to
equal to K, it changes to Fd/V^2=K. Plug in Fd which is the kg of .061 and V^2 which
was the speed given of 30m/s so that the equation looks like .061/(12)^2 have to have
parentheses around the 30 to make the equation work. The answer the comes out of
the equation is 4.2e-4. Which was a little bit less than a ping pong ball which is 5.0e-4.
Now that the two answers have been acquired, if a bigger rocket, a size of a bit wider
than a ping pong ball, were to be put into the wind tunnel, than guestimation of that
rocket would be about either 5.0e-4 or 6.0e-4. There will be slight error in the final
predictions because the rocket launched will not be the same as the rocket in the wind
tunnel, so the predictions will be slightly off

.Numerical Model
The second to final part of the lab is the rocket height prediction of the rocket
based on what type of engine is used. The point of this part is trying to figure out how
high the rocket will go and where it will land,using a numerical iteration to figure out how
much drag force is exerted on the rocket, how fast it will go, height, the average net
impulse, the average net force, average thrust, delta V, and the average velocity. A chart
is created to show this:
How the Calculations are created.
In the figure shown on the left, the
calculations of a projected rocket
about to go off into the air,
predicting how high it will go, this is
a B6 rocket with a mass of 65g with
a engine mass of 18g which added
and converted to kg is .083kg, and
a initial velocity of 0. The drag
coefficient is needed before finding
everything else out. Kd(drag
coefficient) = Fd/V^2. Which equals out to .
004. Average thrust equals the average of two
thrusts between the the time intervals. Average
net force = Average thrust - mg. Average Net
Impulse = Average net force / 10. Initial
Velocity for the starting time interval would be
0 because it hasnt left the ground yet, the final
Velocity would become the initial velocity for
the next one and continues on with that cycle.
To find the Final Velocity the equation used is
the Vf= F*k + mvi/V. F * K is equal to the initial velocity. Example: .72N + .083 * 2.64 / .
083 = 11.3. Average velocity, the initial velocity + the final velocity all divided by 2. Final
Height, the initial height + average velocity * the change in time. The final height
becomes the initial height for the next one. For the B6 engine the final height before the
parachute is extended out is 77m

There are four different engines that are used for rockets A, B, C, , also a A etc. With
the calculations as shown above the numbers to find the maximum height of each these
rockets. A for example would have a maximum height of The predictions based off
numerous graph of maximum heights were Red/Silver B: 77 m, C: 113 m, RY B: 117, C:
 140 m, Small White: 87 m. The table on the right shows the numbers for the Red/Yellow
rocket with an engine of a B. Final heights located at the very bottom right before where
the height starts dropping.
If there would be no air resistance acting
on the rocket the difference in the heights
of the rocket would be insane, for example
say that B Red/silver had no air resistance,
instead of of 77 m it would become 166m.
This would prove that if air resistance
would be ignored it would throw off the
measurements insanely.

Flight Results
The final part of the rocket lab, the main
goal of this part of the lab is to actually test
out the rockets with different kinds of
engines that the rockets can each
withstand individually. The point of this part
of the rocket lab is actually able to test the
rockets! And see how each rocket's flight patterns will look like. The three predicted
rockets used for this part was the Red/Yellow rocket with an engine of B6 and a C4
engine. Another rocket was a red/silver one with the same engines of the other two, and
the last rocket was a small white rocket but since the tube isnt wide enough so only a
A engine will be able to fit inside of the rocket tube.

Materials:
The three rockets: Red/Silver, Red/Yellow, Small White
Launch pad with cd on top of the plate to make sure the rocket flies well
Battery
3 Angle Measurers(Half-folded paper of a protractor with ball and string attached, folded
on the 90 degree line)
Video Cameras
Distance measurer
Wadding(This is paper coated in a chemical so that the parachute will not burn in the
fuel when it is ignited, the parachute is wrapped with this paper)

Setup:
The rocket launch pad is set down on the
grass pointed straight up, a student
measures the distance of 50
meters or a 164 feet from the
launch pad three times in three
different directions for the
angle measures, 3 different
pairs of students are sent to
each of these three different
angles to measure the rockets
angle, the three angles will be
averaged to get the exact
angle. 1 out of the 2 students in the pair will be
watching the rocket fly with the angle measure
while looking with the protractor while the other
student is looking at the angle of the protractor. Example:

PC:Tressa Parkes
Calculations:
The way calculations were performed, taking the predictions and comparing to the
height of each rocket. The predictions from the previous part: Red/Silver B: 77 m, C: 113
m, RY B: 117, C: 140 m, Small White: 87 m. Actual rocket answers, the average of each
rocket angle between the three pairs of people, the angle of the rocket is then used to
figure out the the height of the rocket, since that 50 m is already established as the
distance horizontally it can be used to figure out the vertical angle. The angle can be
used in terms of sin so the it would be an equation of 50msin0 for each of the rockets.
The predicted heights are then compared to the measured heights to test if the
predicted heights measures are close or exact to the measured heights. The measured
will most likely not be completely accurate due to the unpredictable parabolic pattern or
path that the rocket will take, but the predicted should be relatively close to the answer.
Red/Silver B6 58 58 61 58 85 m

Red/Yellow B6 64 71 68 68 125m

Red/Silver C6 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Red/Yellow C6 68 67 82 72 155 m

Small/white A 61 65 61 62 97 m

Red/Silver C6 61 70 64 65 109 m

Conclusion

Rockets/Engines Predictions Measured

Red/Silver B6 77 m 85 m

Red/Yellow B6 115 m 125 m

Red/Yellow C6 145 m 155 m

Small White A 87 m 97 m

Red/Silver C6 98 m 109 m

These are the results from the tests and predictions that were taken from the lab
of the rockets. As shown above in the table, the numbers are not exactly accurate
compared to the measured ones, that is most likely due to something happening on the
excel sheet to make the numbers off, or the user probably used a different drag
coefficient so the numbers dont exactly line up. The results are at least a difference
apart in numbers, due to the errors that occurred on the way. The exact measures are
not gonna be exactly perfect because of the unpredictable parabolic path that the
rockets take. For next time to get better results it would be good to double check with
multiple other students or partners that are doing the lab as well, also to make sure that
the excel is running smoothly on the website or whatever thing the user is using. One
rocket went A.W.O.L during the experiment so the data of the rocket will be trashed and
retested

Reflection
What Ive learned is that one main thing is that the numbers of an excel sheet
might not want to work with you, ive also learned a lot more about physics from doing
this lab. How much effort it takes to actually get calculation like this. Some difficulties
that occurred in this lab that I faced was an excel sheet that didnt like me so I had to
get help and some results from others, also that in general this was a pretty difficult lab
to do. Other things I did run into were on how to even write these lab reports, but slowly
overcame each part by taking my time and thinking about what I wanted to write about.
Ive kind of realized that I need to get better at formatting and writing to what the prompt
of the essay tells me, I do have trouble once in awhile in writing in third person passive,
but I think I finally got the hang of it. This lab has made me run around figure how to do
this, how to study the papers and make them better, how to write and edit this paper
multiple times to get it perfect, though this paper may not be perfect this assignment
was a perfect way to get how to write and show how difficult school work can be

This report is Fallout Boy approved

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