Rocket Project
Helpful Hints
Xeroxed Rocket Project Handouts: Many, but not all, are a required part of
your final project. Please, please take the time to read them, it will help your grade on this
project!

Don’t “doodle” on them!

If you need a new copy of a form, ask me or download it from the IPS web
site.
Hypotheses: You should be able to have a stranger on the street read your hypothesis
and they would understand what question or problem your attempting to solve.
Examples of Best Nose Cone Shape Hypothesis
Poor
I think cone shape best.
Cone shape would work best on rocket.
A cone shaped nose cone would make a rocket go high.
On a water bottle rocket, a cone shaped nose cone would be the most
Acceptable aerodynamic efficient shape to help eliminate the affects of drag on the
rocket and thus allow it to reach its optimum possible height.
Data Tables:
Every data table needs a descriptive title.
Table Cell
Columns
Rows
Rows
Columns

If you do them by hand, sharpen your pencil or use your best black/blue pen.

If you do them by hand, use a ruler to lay out your tables.

The header cell at the top of each column needs to describe what the numbers
underneath it mean. (Label units too.)

Every table needs a descriptive title. You should be able to show one of the
tables used in this project to a person on the street and they would have a clue
what that information is about.

At the top of every table column should be a descriptive heading (no naked
numbers!)
Naked
Numbers
Graphs:
Descriptive Title
Dependent
Variable
Independent
Variable

Independent Variable: The variable being tested.

Dependent Variable: The variable that is measured.

If you do your graphs by hand, use a ruler.

Leave enough blank margin so they can be bound in your project cover.

Make your graphs big (No bigger then one piece of graph paper). They should
take up about 90% of the graph paper. The bigger you make the graph the
more accurately you can plot the points and then more information can be
gathered from the graph.
Title
NO
Leave
room for
the binder
YES
L
a
b
e
l
Label

You don’t have to number every graph line. The example below represents
just a portion of the graph. Assume a person could figure out that each graph
box represents 2 tenths of a unit. Don’t clutter your graphs with numbers.
1
1
.8
NO
.6
.4
.2
0
0
.2
.4
.6
.8
YES
Seconds
1
0
0
1
Meters

Properly label each axis. (Example: Amount of water in pressurized 2-liter bottle
(milliliters), Basketball (rocket) hang time form launch to ground (seconds)).

Every graph in this project will be a “best fit” line graph.

The “Nose Cone Graph” should have all 4 nose cone experiments plotted on one
graph. This way you can easily compare the aerodynamic qualities of each tested nose
cone. Provide a key to the side of the graph or label each line.

The “Ideal Water Volume/Angle Data”: The average sextant angles of each test need
to be converted to a height. The tangent of the average angle multiplied times our
base distance (30 meters, the distance we set up from the launch pad) equals the
height in meters of the rocket. Make sure you plot the rocket water volume versus the
height, not the water volume versus the angle.

Every graph you ever make needs a good descriptive title. When your done with a
graph give it to anybody, without any explanation from you they should be able to
figure out what that graph is about!

A good graph title will be a little “wordy”!
Examples of Ideal Water Volume/Hang Time Graph Titles
Hang Time
Poor
Hang Time Versus Water
Amount of water in rocket compared to how long they stayed in air.
Acceptable
Experimental results testing the amount of water needed in a water bottle
rocket to achieve the longest hang time (launch to ground)
Conclusions: Hey, the conclusions of this project are worth a bunch of points! Don’t
skimp on these.

Carefully read each water rocket project section and make sure you include all
required parts of the conclusion.
Rocket Design: This section requires a pre-design, a final design, and cardboard cut
out of your rocket.

The rocket designs are not drawings or sketches; they are the blueprints, a
scale diagram, the scientific design of your rocket.

Use a sharp pencil and a ruler.

The rocket pre-design is your plan, your vision of what your rocket will look
like after you are done building it.

Short rockets should use the large grid design paper, tall rockets the small grid
paper.

When you have completed your rocket pre-design, show it to me. You need
my official “oky dokey” on your design before you can start building your
rocket.

Your pre-design should include all of the information shown in the attached
example. (Except for the final mass and center of mass and pressure
indicated.)

Undoubtedly, your completed rocket will be different from your initial design.
That is why you need a final design.

You will need to measure (metric) your actual rocket to complete the final
design.

When you have completed the rocket cardboard cut out, turn it in, so I can
check that off on your grading guideline.

Make sure you indicate your rocket’s center of mass and pressure on your
final design. (See “Rocket Design” handout.)
Important Legal Notice! The following design of the “Cookie Monster”
rocket is patented, copyrighted ©, and every other possible legal stuff you can think of.
The use or misuse of this rocket design could result in a fine of up to $1,000,000 and/or a
prison term of up to 30 years in the pokey! Plus, I just made it up for an example. It has
never been built or launched. For all I know the thing wouldn’t go 10 feet off the ground.
Final Rocket Design of:
“The Cookie Monster”
Scale
1 grid box = 2 cm
2.3 cm
Plastic egg half
filled with 150 g
of chocolate chip
cookie dough.
16 oz plastic cup
10.2 cm
Center of
Gravity (Mass)
39 cm
Total
Height
Center of
Pressure (Area)
30 cm
2-liter pop
bottle, not
cut, no holes.
Amount of rocket fuel used: 800 ml of H20
pressurized with 65 psi of air!
Mass of completed rocket:
(No H20) = 217.6 grams
Scale
1 grid box = 2 cm
Final Tail Fin Design of:
“The Cookie Monster”
8.7 cm
Leading
Edge
6.9 cm
4.7 cm
Fins made of 1/8 inch
foam board, taped to
pressure bottle with
packaging tape. Each fin
is embedded with 10
chocolate chips.
3.2 cm
Tail Fin
Placement
4 Fins 90
apart