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It has been my childhood memory to play with water rockets. When I was in my 3rd
grade in primary school, my science teacher taught us the way to fire rockets into 5
stories high, only with water pressure. This scientific wonder stunned me and over the
years, I have been thinking of the optimal conditions to create a water rocket that
would fly the maximum vertical height. The physics internal assessment provided me
with an excellent chance to investigate on this topic and test my findings.
Physics that is involved in this experimentation is energy and gas law, which requires
me looking into details like bottle shape, water, pressure, in order to answer the topic
question.
What I am going to do about this experiment is that I will be looking at the variation
of water volume and air pressure, finding out the relationship between them, by
applying gas law through data collecting and graph plotting.
Number of attempts Volume of water (ml) Time (s) Height (m) Guage Pressure (Pa)
0 0 0 0
1 50 0.010 6.37 3867.07
2 100 0.012 6.29 2995.90
3 150 0.015 6.20 2192.07
4 200 0.018 5.92 1698.24
5 250 0.022 5.46 1282.30
6 300 0.026 4.98 1014.89
7 350 0.030 4.36 830.64
8 400 0.035 3.89 669.40
9 450 0.038 3.27 596.60
10 500 0.042 2.99 518.60
11 550 0.044 2.45 485.90
12 600 0.047 2.12 443.04
13 650 0.048 1.77 430.17
14 700 0.050 1.34 406.28
15 750 0.051 1.36 395.17
16 800 0.051 1.21 395.17
17 850 0.052 0.994 384.57
18 900 0.052 0.687 384.57
19 950 0.052 0.343 384.57
20 1000 0.052 0.172 384.57
The table below shows the data collected during the experimentation
To do the experiment, I first need to prepare a plastic bottle with a volume of 1000
mL and put it under a tripod to stable it. Then I need to prepare a beaker with a
measurement from 0 mL to 1000 mL, because it is used to measure the volume of the
water used when the water rocket launches. After that, A pressure pump which is
connect with a pressure gauge will be used in order to find out how much air I have
pumped into the water rocket to make it leave the land. Then, a plastic tube will be
used in order to connect water rocket and the pressure pump. Lastly, an altimeter will
be stuck on the top of the bottle because it is used to record the height the rocket flew.
The problem I realized during the experiment is that the rocket actually spins and
stays in the air when it reaches its maximum height. After the rocket lands, the bottle
is almost empty.
The diagram below shows the equipment that are used during the experiment:
Water rocket A 1 liter staright body plastic pepsi water bottle
Bubble wrap To wrap around the rocket to protect the
apparatus that is stuck on it (which is the
altimeter)
Pressure guage Connected to the bicycle pump in order to take
measurements in each trail
Tripod A launch pad for stabling the water rocket
Altimeter Connected to the water rocket in order to record
the height
Mobile Phone Taking videos and check how long the rockect
stays in air when it reaches its maximum height
Tape Use to stable the pump and the rocket , also
stabling the altimeter, bubble wrap and the
rocket
Bicycle Pump A tool for pumping air into the water rocket
Through out the entire experiment, the time (T) represents how long
the rocket stays in air when it reaches its maximum height in each
trail.
Graphs are plotted in order to show the relationship between each
quantity.
This graph is plotted with the raw data collected during the
experiment. It shows that presure and volume are inversely
proportional. It can also be proved with the ideal gas law equation
PV = nRT.. The equation for ideal gas law will be applied in order to
explain the variation of pressure volume with the water rocket. For R
is the universal gas constant, T is temperature of the gas in K, n is
the amount of ideal gas and V is the volume of the container with
the gas. The equation shows the pressure, volume as well as the
temperature of certain amount (n) of ideal gas. P is the absolute
pressure.
1
Moreover, another graph of P against will be plotted in order to
V
find the relationship between the gauge pressure and the volume,
based on the formula:
nRT
P=
V
1
Therefore, P is
V
According to the graph above, it indicates the inverse relationship
between gauge pressure and the volume, which comes out with a
linear graph, plotted with a line of best fit.
N
PV = 2
m3
m
PV =Nm
The perfect case for this is when they are 100% equal to each other,
which is when PV is exactly equals to mgh. The graph should be a
straight line instead of a curve.
0.01 3
V olume base= 3
volume m
This gives the data above.
1
Another graph of P against will be plotted with the new data
V
table
The graph came out to be a curve, which is almost a straight line,
but it also suggested that it would never cross 0. It is because actual
ideal gas does not exist in real life and can never be approached.
PV =constant
PV =k
k
P=
V
1 1
P Or V
V P
In conclusion, the data collected from the water rocket experiment matches, to a high
extent, the gas law of PV = nRT. The more water there was in the rocket, the lower it
flew, proving an inversely proportional relationship between the pressure of the gas
and the volume of the water bottle. The dependent variable will be the amount of
water and gas added in the water, while the independent variable will be the distance
of how far the rocket went. Compare with the real life, the water rocket is a smaller
model of an actual rocket. As a result, the data collected may not be accurate because
there is air resistance acting on the water rocket and this will affect the results
collected. In addition, the alitmeter broke during the halfway of the experiment, so the
results may not be accurat as I have use another alitmeter that is same as the broken
one. Still, there will be some systemetic error. The graphs and data has come up with a
conclusion that in real life, PV mgh.
Random errors are made through the plotting of the graph, which follows my
expected trend, which are the curves and lines on the graph with the error bars and
poles. While the systematic occurs due to the not quite zero setups on my digital
apparatus.
The experiment is used to carry out to explain how gas law is related to the maximum
height that can be achieve when flying the water rocket. he data results, the graphs has
illustrates the relationship between the pressure and volume and height achieve. In
addition, they also show how pressure and volume have inversely proportional
relationship.