Today was our final launch day, and I'm sad to say that we lost our bottle rocket to a tree. That one random tree that's right next to Midkiff. I believe we did around three or four launches; most of them landing with a time of 5.6 seconds or so. Our last launch was seven seconds flat, so we received a C for our final launch. The problem was the same as the last launch day; the cone wouldn't come off. We tried cutting triangles in the cone to make it lighter, but it still stayed on top of the rocket. If the cone came off the top and the parachute deployed, I'm pretty sure we would've gotten a way better time. The best way to make sure the nose cone falls off of the bottle is to put a ball of modeling clay at the tip of the inside of the cone. The modeling clay adds more mass to the rocket and when the bottle reaches apogee and turns upside down, the clay will push the cone off of the rocket, allowing the parachute to deploy. Another factor that affected our rocket was the weather. Not only was it rainy, but it was also very windy. The rain can be bad for rockets with any type of cardboard fins because it bends the fins, which can mess up the rocket's path of flight. The wind can either help or destroy the water bottle rocket. The wind was blowing North at 12 to 13 miles per hour, so all of the rockets, regardless of the angle launched and in what direction, were blown in out of their straight flight paths. The wind can help the rocket if the parachute deploys. With wind this fast, the wind can actually lift and carry the rocket for quite a while, which is how a group in period 6 got around 17 seconds. The wind also messes up the flight and the landing if it carries the rocket onto a building or into a tree, which is what happened to our rocket. So lets just hope that the next time someone launches a rocket, it will be sunny with no wind.
I also got seven seconds for my best time due to the parachute not deploying properly. I agree with how you described the factors of the project. I think that your mention about the modeling clay is interesting and I wonder if using it would have helped with my launch.
ReplyDeleteI think overall your guys' design would've worked really well if other factors, such as the wind, hadn't gotten in your way. It was too bad, though, because the wind actually helped our rocket by making our parachute catch air for longer (we were just lucky). During a couple of our previous launches, our nose cone had trouble coming off as well. We tried to make the string attaching it to the rocket looser and making sure it was placed just enough to stay on the rocket but be able to fall with a slight tip. Ultimately, though, I think you guys could've gotten 10 seconds if the tree didn't eat your rocket.
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