Name _______________________ Class Period__________________ Date______________________

Straw Rockets Laboratory

Problem: What are the speed, force, and inertia of a straw rocket? Gather Data: Define the following and list the units used to measure these: Newtons 1st Law Inertia Force Newtons 2nd Law Constant Hypothesis: A) How far will your rocket travel (measure in meters)? B) How fast will your rocket travel (measure in m/s)? C) How much force will your rocket require (measure in Newtons)? D) How much inertia will there be? 0-None 1-some 2-A lot Experiement: Materials: 1 piece computer paper 1 straw tape pen/pencil scissors Method: Build your straw rocket according to the following directions 1. Cut a 1-inch strip down the length of the paper as shown.

2. Wrap the 1 piece of paper around the straw. Begin with your paper at a diagonal.

3. Tape the paper to stay in a tube form but not stuck to the straw. 4. Fold top of tube down and tape to be airtight. 5. Cut three 5cm x 5cm squares from remaining paper. 6. Fold the squares to make triangles. 7. Fold edges of one of the open ends of triangle back 1cm to make them easier to tape to the tube.

8. Tape the three triangles onto the tube close to the open end and evenly spaced

9.When instructed to do so, insert straw into open end and blow to launch rocket. Analyze Data: Record and calculate Straight Path Trial Distance (m) Time (s) Acceleration (m/s2) Force (N)

Average Force = Average Acceleration = Calculated mass (Kg) = Draw a diagram of rockets flight path. Upward Arc

Trial

Distance (m)

Time (s)

Speed (m/s)

Acceleration (m/s2)

Force (N)

Average Force = Average Acceleration = Calculated mass (Kg) = Draw a diagram of rockets flight path. Actual Mass of rocket: (in Kg) Formulas for calculating to fill in the columns of above Speed = distance divided by time Acceleration = change in velocity divided by time Force = mass times acceleration Calculated mass = average force divided by average acceleration Conclusion: 1. 2. 3. 4. Brainstorm variables that affected the flight of your rocket? Brainstorm the constants of your rocket flights. Describe 1 way your rocket displayed inertia? Label your flight diagrams above with force arrows to show where your rocket experienced forces. 5. Describe the difference between your calculated and actual rocket mass. What could have caused those differences? 6. Describe how this experiment displays Newtons First Law. 7. Which of your hypotheses were true and which were false?