Matchbox Rockets
By: Sawyer Richards
Why I Chose This
I chose this project because I wanted to see how a matchhead could launch a rocket 20-30 feet away
Steps To Make Matchbox Rockets
- Get a box of matches, aluminium foil, aluminium foil tape, and a bamboo skewer.
- Take the matches and cut of the match head.
- Print the cutting template
- Carefully line up the bamboo skewer on the template
- Mark the parts that need to be cut
- Cut the were the marks are
- Take the other part of the template and cut it onto a card board box
- Cut out the small square in the center onto your cardboard
- Trace the square onto aluminum foil tape.
- Fold the Squares one corner edge to another
- Pinch at the base of the triangle and push together
- Crease the triangle and it should look like a little x-wing
- Cut of the top
- Get your template and cut it out onto aluminium foil.
- To make the launch pad cut a small hole at the top about a 1/2 inch from the end
- Find the paper template and find were it says bamboo skewer and match head
- Put the skewer in place with the match head on one of the aluminium foil pieces we cut out
- Carefully roll it up together and pinch right above the match head
- Fold the extra area down and use pliers to make sure no air escapes
- Take one of the fins we make out of aluminium foil tape and take it and put it over the rocket and use the sticky side on the rocket body
- Take out the foil rocket
- And you are done!!!
Here´s a Video to Show You How to Make It
How To Make a Matchbox Rocket Launching Kit
The Challenging Parts
Some of the more challenging parts of this project was making it out of tin foil this was a big struggle for me because the foil would easily rip so in took a couple tries to get it right. This project was also time consuming so I had to work at a faster pace to make sure I would be able to get it done.
If I Had More Time To Work On The Project How Would I extend It?
I would extended the project by trying to make a big version of the tin foil rocket and try to get it to work like the mini ones.
Test Flight Video
Rocket