Penaaaay

IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY...

*cue Star Wars theme song*

There were a group of rocketeers who sat in the back of the room. Too cool for the rest of the class. They attempted water bottle rockets. It all started in physics. Determined to find the best design of rocket. They traveled far and wide, to the far reaches of planet Earth. There they found the blueprints of a masterpiece. 

Day Wonizzle

NAKED ROCKETZ.

 

We launched our bottles bare, with no attachments. Our bottle stayed in the air for a total of 6 seconds. 500 mL of rocket fuel was used with a total of 60 psi.

Day Twizzle

Two Launches with One Modification.

Launch data courtesy of Mr. Blake

Day two has arrived! This time we had to launch the Millennium I-Batt with a modification. For reference on how to design the individual parts for our rocket, we used multiple websites. We used this website to design our fins http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=2140. It provided insight on to what the fins actually do to help the rocket and designs and placement in which to get the most out of them. http://www.h2orocket.com/ helped us come up with design ideas for every part of the rocket and gave us the idea of joining two, two liter bottles. For our first modification, we decided to cut one bottle in half and attach it to the bottle that wasn't tampered with. This modification increased our launch times by one to two seconds. We kept the amount of water and pressure used at launch a constant 500 mL and 60 psi. Our rocket stayed in the air for around seven seconds before hitting the ground; a success in our eyes! 

Day Thrizzle

Launch with a Parachute.

Today, we had to launch our rocket with a parachute. We constructed our parachute using the toy soldiers as a basis for it's creation. For the chute, we used a trash bag which we cut open and then into a circle. We then used string to attach the parachute to our rocket. There were eight strings of the same length attached at each cardinal direction: N, NW, SW, S, etc. The strings were then brought together and taped to another piece of string, which gave it distance from the actual rocket so it had the chance to fill up with air without anything prohibiting air flow. On this launch day, we rushed to put everything together, so we only had enough time for one launch. However, that one launch went very successful. We used 600 mL of water this time and according to Chevy, the psi was around 80. The launch went perfectly and the chute opened and our rocket stayed in the air for 11 seconds! Everything worked out just as planned.

Day Fourizzle

In the air for 5+ seconds. 

 

With the finalized modifications, the Millennium I-Batt was now ready for launch. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t in a cooperative mood today. Kamehameha Schools was literally in a cloud that day. High speed gusts of wind, sheets of sharp rain, and the fogginess of the cloud, were all weather factors that would change the variables of our launch. But the I-Batt Rocketeers weren’t afraid and had faith in the Millennium I-Batt. We knew that the winds would have the biggest effect on our rocket because of the resistance that it provided. The wind and weight of our rocket played an important role in the launch process. But we found out from our boys at NASA the equation to a perfect launch. This equation is as so, pressure+aerodynamics+effective weight=height in launch. This added onto a successful parachute release would equal the maximum time spent in the air. We set up camp around the middle of the field, closer to Konia bus stop, but away from Konia. Prepared to launch, I began pumping air into the Millennium I-Batt, I would say around 80 PSI. 3,2,1 TSSSSS! Off it went, to heights only imaginable by the other groups. But as we stared up amazed at the Millennium I-Batt, a large gust of wind blew and carried our rocket to the left towards the bus stop. A loud thump occured as we realized that our beloved rocket had landed on the roof of Konia bus stop. AUWE!

Day Fivizzle

Final Launch - 10 seconds in the ayyyerrrr 

Final launch day data courtesy of Mr. Blake

As the I-Batt Rocketeers suffered a great loss the previous launch day losing the Millennium I-Batt was gone. The roof took Millennium and the rocket was gone for good. On the final day the I-Batt Rocketeers dealt with no rocket and built a brand new one from scratch. Using all the materials that were present to them at the time, the team got to work to make a new and improved Millennium I-Batt II. All previous steps were repeated just as the first rocket was made. The main problem that the team had with their rocket was the parachute. The parachute was made in a quick fashion and was not able to be made as efficient as the previous rocket. It was launch time, and the I-Batt Rocketeers were ready to test their new rocket to see if it could take the challenge. We took position in the middle of Konia field. The weather wasn't the greatest for the second launch day in a row. Wind and rain would be another factor to the time in the air the rocket will be able to withstand. For our first launch, around 80 PSI was added in to the rocket. The string was pulled and the rocket blast into orbit. Unfortunately the rockets parachute did not open up and the rockets time in the air was only determined by how high the rocket went. Our fins also fell off of the rocket during the first launch so our rocket was now not able to stay in a stable direction as it was launched. As we went to pick up our rocekt, our parachute broke off the the rocket and flew onto the roof. We went tack to the room to make a new parachute. The parachute was not in the greatest condition, but we had to deal with it for the time being. Our second launch for that day every step was repeated, and the parachute failed to burst out again. We retrieved our rocket and again the parachute broke off. So for our final launch we just had a bottle to launch. None of our launches stayed in the air for the required amount. 

*All videos taken by Kaeo Paik, Chevy Fonseca, and Ian Higa*