Rocket Lab

Collin Teng
AMES
written for

Doug Hendricks
physics class

Abstract
The main purpose of the lab was to find the final height of the rocket. In order to
do this there were many different steps that needed to be done. The first of these steps
was an engine thrust analysis, the second was the drag force, the third was the

numerical model and the fourth was the flight results. When done the results were
compiled. The results were fairly accurate as the theoretical data was about 15 meters
of for the first trial and about about 10 meters off for the second trial. They were fairly
accurate results and we were satisfied with our results. However there were other trials
that were done but they had to be thrown out because the rocket veered too much.
Introduction
This lab was done in order to solidify many of the physics ideas that were learnt
during the majority of the year. It helped solidify the equations and ideas that physics
students learn through the year. This lab helped identify the rocket and the forces that
acted on the rocket as it was launched. This outlines how to predict the height of a
rocket when given a specific rocket. In order to do this a few terms must be understood,
these terms include: kinematics, drag force, dynamics, impulse, momentum and drag
coefficient. Kinematics is the study of motion and is taught year round in physics.
Dynamics is the study of the forces acting on an object. Drag force is the air the pushes
back on the rocket and must be taken into account when calculating the theoretical
height of the rocket. Momentum carries the rocket forward with the speed that it has
accumulated. Impulse is simple in that it can be defined as force times time and is used
to identify rocket engines and types. And last but not least is drag coefficient, which can
be described as a coefficient that is there to alter the rocket in accordance with the drag
force. The rockets that were used all had different engines in them, in order to identify
which engines are being used, the rockets had to be tested for impulse. One of the key
steps to calculating the rocket's height is called numerical iteration, this is the process of
finding an answer by breaking the problem down into different steps.
derivation of Impulse momentum theory
F=ma
a=change of v /change of t
F=m change of v /change of t
F( change of t)=m( change of v )
F( change of t)=change of p

Engine thrust analysis

The purpose of this lab was to find the thrust as a function of time. This was
necessary in order to determine the impulse used to find the theoretical height of the
rocket at hand. A secondary purpose of the lab was to find the type of engine that was
used in the rocket. There were two main steps to this process; those included finding
the impulse of the rocket as to determine if the rocket was A, B or C. the second part

was to determine what subscript of rocket we had, and example of the final product
would be C6 rocket or A4. where the A represents the impulse and the 4 represents the
average force per second.
in order to find how much force the rocket was using the rocket had to be placed upon a
frictionless rail that had a force gauge attached to it. The rocket was first attached to a
track in order for it to be measured without friction taking a role in the results. The rocket
and track were then placed facing a force meter so that the force the rocket would exert
could be calculated. The force meter was in turn attached to a calculator that could
record and distribute the data.

The results of this lab came in the form of a graph. By finding the area of the
graph the impulse could be calculated. This is because the graph was in time and force
and the equation of impulse is: I =FT . The area under the curve of the graph came
out to be about 8.8 which was closest to a C engine which has a total impulse of 10.
The other types of types of rockets are A, B and C engines .Where the A has an impulse
of 2.5N, the B has an impulse of 5N and the C has an impulse of 10. Since the graph
was closest to a C engine. It was concluded that the engine that was used was a C. In

every engine there is a letter that signifies the impulse of the engine and also a number
that tells what the average impulse per second is. This can be found by taking the
impulse and dividing it by the number of seconds. The rocket used in this lab turned out
to be a C4 engine. It actually turned out to be a C6 engine but there might have been
multiple factors that played a role in the outcome. These factors may have included that
the rocket was not securely on the cart or the tracks.
Drag Force Lab
The purpose of this lab was to find what the drag coefficient was and how it
would affect our rocket. the drag force of the rocket is something that would drastically
alter the rocket's height. Usually this is something that students ignore because it takes
no role in the final outcome, but for the speed that we will reach and the height the
rocket will reach, the final outcome for the lab needs to include the drag force.
The setup of this lab
mainly involved a wind
tunnel. The rocket was
placed in the wind tunnel and
suspended from a string.
When the wind tunnel was
turned on, the rocket was
pushed in the direction the
wind which put the string
attached to it at an angle.
From this and the rocket's
mass, we were able to
calculate the drag force. On
one end of the wind tunnel,
the wind speed was
measured which also played
a factor in calculating the air resistance/drag
force. One of the most important parts of the
lab was the honeycomb structure placed in
front of and behind the rocket. This structure
is designed to break up the airflow coming
into the rocket and going out of it. In other
words, it makes it so that the rocket had less
turbulence.
derivation of K d
It is known that Fd =T sin() and that
mg=Tcos()
and if mg=Tcos() was rearranged into the equation T =mgsin () then T can be
substituted into Fd =T sin() and simplified to get K d =mgtan()/v 2

From the results, the angle that was taken from the rocket in the wind tunnel was
30 degrees. When we plug that into the equation that was derived it was found that the
K d was equal to .0003.

One of the problems that came up was that some of the rockets we
wanted to test did not fit into the wind tunnel at hand. This was fixed by taking
something that was known to have a smaller drag force and a larger drag force
and estimating between those two. In this case a pingpong ball was used to have
a large K d and a smaller rocket was used to have a smaller K d . The bigger
rocket that was used was estimated to have a K d of about .0004
Numerical Model Lab
This lab wasn't really a lab because it did not involve any experiments and instead
involved pure data. The data that was used helped calculate the theoretical height of the
rocket was taken from the website of the people who made the engines of the rockets
used in the lab. It was imperative that the theoretical height was calculated because it
needed to be compared to the actual height of the rockets. This was one of the main
points of the lab.
the theoretical height can be found through the use of many different equations. The
next part of this lab will outline those equation and what they are used for.
Average Thrust: (Thr1+Thr2)/2 - this equation is for the average thrust of the rocket, it
is fairly straightforward in the sense that in order to get the average of any two
variables, the first and the second must be added together and divided by two.
Drag Force:(using prior vf) (Fd = kd*v2)
- this equation was derived in the drag force
part of the lab and can be found a few pages back. Its purpose is also described there.

Average Net Force: (Thrustavg - mg - Fd)

- this equation if for the average net force, it
can be found by looking at the free body diagram of the rocket and what forces are
acting on the rocket. the thrust is pushing up, gravity is pushing down and drag force is
pushing it down
Average Net Impulse: (FnetDt)
- this equation can be looked at in the part
of the lab that identified the engine through the momentum.
Initial Velocity: (= last row's vf)
- this equation is very simple in that it can be found in
the previous .1 second calculation.
Final Velocity: (vi+FnetDt/m)
-this is one of the most important parts of the lab
because it is required to find the final height of the rocket. the Vi in this equation
represents the initial velocity, the other variables are defined in the pages above.
Average Velocity: (vi + vf)/2
- another average that is used but this time for velocity.
Final Height (hi+vavg*Dt)
- the equation that was derived in the introduction of the lab.
This is the goal of the lab.
The drag force is one of the most contributing factors of the final height because of the
velocities that the rocket reached. If the drag force was not taken into account, the
results would have been changed drastically.
Flight Results
This lab was designed to check if the results in the lab are accurate or not. Many
of the trials that were done had to be thrown out because the rocket veered too much.
This could have been a result of the wind or some of the bent fins that the rocket had.
In order to find the height of the lab, trig was used. The rocket was set up in the middle
of a field and three people with protractors were located 50 meters away and at 120
degree angles. This was used to triangulate the final height of the rockets.

rocket

engine

Erin

Gus

Ian

red

A-8

40

44

45

black

B-6

47

50

74

white

C-6

N/A

N/A

N/A

white

C -6

N/A

N/A

N/A

red

C-6

N/A

N/A

N/A

the N/A of the rockets are there to show that the trials were performed but they were too
messed up to be taken into consideration
50 tan( avg. angles ) + 1.5 = height
Trial 1: this rocket reached a height of 48.126
Trial 2: this rocket reached a height of 78.496

Conclusion
There were many different things that could have made the data a little off from the
theoretical data. The lab was a long and tedious process but in the end we were 15
meters off for the first trial. And 10 meters off of the second trial. It was known that many
factors contributed into the lab and the data that was collected. These factors included
the rocket not flying straight up, the angle of the rocket being measured differently and
the wind affecting the final height of the rocket.
reflection
This lab was an enjoyable experience overall. It did help solidify many of the topics that
we worked on in class but it was a little rushed. The labs were nice to work on but if you
didnt type it up over the course of the week, it was difficult to put it all together last
minute. one of the most important things that I thought the lab covered was the idea of
breaking the lab into different parts, this process is also known as numerical iteration.
This would be something that I would like to go over again in class but next time In more
detail.