Water Rocket Contest 2005

Group C, KSEA Science Olympiads, NY-Metro Chapter, 2005 Nov. 19-20

[Click here if you wish to go directly to the evaluation page.]

Outline of the Contest
Design and construct a rocket using a plastic soda bottle as a pressure chamber and the supplied materials for a nose and fins. The maximum flight distance will win this contest. However, the rocket must not deviate from a designated area.  This means that the rocket should have both maximum propulsion and a good guidance system.
<-Materials:

  • 1-liter plastic bottle (1)

  • play-doh (1 stick)

  • poster-board (1 sheet)

  • foam-board  (1 sheet)

  • duck tape

  • scissors

  • ruler

  • pencil

  • adhesive nametag for ID
Design Concepts->
  • Water rockets consist of four major parts: the nose, body, fins, and nozzle. Design, build, and attach the nose and fins only. 
  • The nose and fins are the guidance system for your rocket that can increase aerodynamic stability to achieve better flight.  They also add character and style to your rocket.
  • Be sure to take some time thinking out the design of your rocket before committing to a plan of action.
<-Design Rules
  • The design and the amount of water of your choice will determine your rocket performance.
  • The body, including the bottle neck, should not be modified for safety. 
  • Any fins or other attachments must not extend too low from the mouth, so that we can fit it in our launcher (see the picture in the left panel).
Launch Rules->
  • Submit the finished rocket. Attach your name tag firmly to the rocket. The tag should show your ID and and the desired percentage of water.
  • The air will be pressurized to 40 psi.
  • The rocket should land into the designated area. 

 

Rockets
A contestant shows his excellent craftsmanship. He is using thin poster-board for light-weight fins, carefully measures 4-5 fins,  and scrutinizes the cuts for exact balance.
 
A clever design to utilize another bottle neck as cone. It will naturally guarantee symmetry and add weight to the cone. The clay is nicely attached to the inside wall of the cone.  Also note the five nifty fins. What a neat design!   The parabolic cone with adequate size will make a comfortable landing. The large fins may also help the landing. But when everything is large and sturdy, it will increase the total weight, a burden in the flight. 
 
A flat cone? This is a never-seen-before type. The clay is used to hold the cone cover from outside, rather than sitting inside the cone. This flat cone with four large fins will make the flight more challenging (see the movie clip Y09-07).   A sharp pointed-down cone reminded me of a French Concorde jet.  I thought that this non-symmetric design, although artistic, would have a problem in  flight. But our generous referee launched it with the nose tip up, which actually gave some more feet (see the movie clip Y11-03).

 

Evaluation
The rocket flight performance was evaluated in a remote site for safety. Committee members are preparing for the rocket launch (left), and measuring the flight distance (Right).

 

Final result
Curious about the final result? Then click this image!
 

Last modified                         2005 Nov. 21                            Jeongwoo Lee