Investigation design
With rockets!!!!!!!
Problem
How do various variables affect the trajectory of a toy rocket?
Research
Weight is how fast an object is pulled to the earth, and therefore the more weight something has, the faster it is pulled down. So if we strapped a ten pound weight to the toy rocket, it might not even fly. There is also air resistance. The more air resistance there is, the more friction there is, meaning the slower the rocket will be. Just because an object is pulled to the ground faster does'nt mean that it goes slower or goes a smaller distance. In fact, the more mass an object has, the FARTHER it goes. Air resistance and weight can also change how an object flies.
Hypothesis
Evan's Hypothesis: If we add extra weight or more air resistance, then it will change the rockets flight path accordingly, going a shorter distance if it is heavier and has more air resistance, and a farther distance if it is lighter, and has less air resistance
Patrick's Hypothesis: If we add more weight then it will go farther because it has more mass.
Materials
- One Toy rocket
- One roll of tape (one sided)
- 2 20 gram weights
- 1 50 gram weight
- Meter stick or measuring tape
- Paper and pencil
Procedures
- Take out toy rocket
- Take out tape
- Tape 1 20 gram weight to cylindrical part of toy rocket
- Shoot toy rocket.
- Use measuring tape to measure how far you shot the rocket in cm.
- Record in a data table
- Tape one more 20 gram weight to rocket
- Repeat steps 4-6
- Remove weights from rocket
- Repeat steps 4-6
- Tape a 50 gram weight to the side of one wing on the toy rocket
- Repeat steps 4-6
- Write a conclusion.
Conclusion
without any extra weight or mass, the rocket went the farthest, with an astounding 13.54 meters. when we put a 20 gram weight on it though, it only went 4 meters. when we attached a second weight, it went farther, with 7.4 meters. When we attached a 50 gram weight to a wing, it actually went farther, probably because of a more random gravitational pull. This shows that with no weight it goes the farthest, but when you do have weight, the more you have, the better. you also want the gravitational pull to not as central as possible.