A rocket needs only two things: mass to launch it and something to push that mass out. In a conventional rocket, fuel does both. First, the fuel ignites, providing energy, and then the remainder of this reaction is pushed out of the rocket nozzle to provide thrust.
A bottle rocket is fun and easy to make. You can build and launch a simple bottle rocket by repurposing materials you can easily find lying around the house.
Bottle rocket or making a rocket from a bottle. These two simple words can turn a boring day into one filled with fun, excitement, and learning. I'm not sure if your kids are bored, but recently when my kids were complaining about me mentioning those two little words, suddenly everything changed!
Once they heard there would be rockets, chemistry and explosions they were very excited.
This was our first time trying to use a glass bottle and I really had to scramble to find all the equipment.
The main thing I was missing was a cork for a bottle, so I had to use a piece of pasta cut to the size of the opening.
After ensuring we had all the correct pieces, I set the boys to work building a launcher out of Tinker Bell toys. I told them to make sure the bottle rocket launcher was stable enough to support the rocket when it exploded, and that it was large enough to hold an upside-down bottle without it falling over.
The boys took a few quick measurements of the bottle and then built the frame, but quickly decided it needed better support on the base and added extra feet for stability. After testing it out, they were happy with their build, and we were ready to launch!
What you need to build your own bottle rockets:
- An empty bottle of soda (I think my American friends call it soda!)
- Baking soda
- vinegar
- Cork (or something alternative like a piece of pool noodle)
- launch pad
Place about 3/4 to 1 cup of vinegar in the bottle. Place about a teaspoon of baking soda on a small piece of paper towel that you can fold so it slides into the bottle easily. Insert the baking soda packet into the bottle and place it in the cork. Turn it upside down and place it on the operating panel. Then undo!
It's best to do this in an area with plenty of space and make sure to stand back. You never know how far you might shoot.
The pool noodle horse didn't do a great job of reacting, so our launches weren't very high. But next time we'll have some corks handy so we can see how high we can get!
Let's talk some science!
~ We explored the engineering requirements and measurements needed to make the base functional.
- ~ The chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar is always a favorite. I think Jackson is ready to do more detailed work at the end of Chemistry, but for now we've just been examining how the reaction released gases. He's just started reading Bashir's science book, Chemistry. I think we'll do that next time, and there will be more discussion and questions about the chemical reaction. The next step was to talk about how these gases built up in the bottle, creating pressure that eventually pushed the cork quickly, causing the release.
