Our Fetus RocketAddisonThe purpose of this project was for us to build a model rocket out of limited materials and practice using the kinematics formulas we learned during class. In our website you can see the calculations we made and even a video of our little rocket in flight.
"Calculations"
Addison came out at .061kg and a body of 29.5 cm His center of pressure is at 13.5 cm. We hope Addison reaches as great heights, (20.4m to be exact) We have great hopes for Addison and we are very proud. |
Addisons Birth and Life Plan
Addison is growing up so fast!
Abstract
Based on the formulas in class, we determined that the acceleration in the first phase of Addison's take off would be about 15.4 m/s^2 and the velocity would be 24.64m/s. We used these two values to find the height of Addison at the end of the first phase, when the fuel runs out, to be about 19.7 m. We then used these results to find the height of Addison at the end of stage two, when the rocket's fuel is gone but is still increasing in height. It was determined the highest height our little rocket would reach is around 20.4 m, then the parachute deploys and the third phase of the descent begins. Although our launch was a success we believe Addison flew at an angle because the nose cone was so wide that we had to shift it slightly so it fit on the launch rod, and one of the wings was glued slightly higher than the others. If we could go back and rebuild Addison, we would have fixed these minor flaws.
Based on the formulas in class, we determined that the acceleration in the first phase of Addison's take off would be about 15.4 m/s^2 and the velocity would be 24.64m/s. We used these two values to find the height of Addison at the end of the first phase, when the fuel runs out, to be about 19.7 m. We then used these results to find the height of Addison at the end of stage two, when the rocket's fuel is gone but is still increasing in height. It was determined the highest height our little rocket would reach is around 20.4 m, then the parachute deploys and the third phase of the descent begins. Although our launch was a success we believe Addison flew at an angle because the nose cone was so wide that we had to shift it slightly so it fit on the launch rod, and one of the wings was glued slightly higher than the others. If we could go back and rebuild Addison, we would have fixed these minor flaws.
Here we see our little rocket taking his first flight. We are so proud that he soared so high on his first try!
Conclusion
Our rocket launch was successful, we even caught Addison on his way down! The calculations we did with the kinematics equations are more reliable than the calculations from the triangulation problem.The height we approximated from our trigonometric functions was about 67.38 meters. Therefore it left us with a 30% error, part of this we believe was due to a couple of errors when building Addison. However, for a high school physics class a 30% error is really good.
Our rocket launch was successful, we even caught Addison on his way down! The calculations we did with the kinematics equations are more reliable than the calculations from the triangulation problem.The height we approximated from our trigonometric functions was about 67.38 meters. Therefore it left us with a 30% error, part of this we believe was due to a couple of errors when building Addison. However, for a high school physics class a 30% error is really good.
After Addison completed his flight we held a small graduation ceremony on the field with all his rocket friends!