Olly's Conclusion:
I feel that overall this lab went fairly well, and we ended up with the desired results. Although our rocket did not fly as high enough as other peoples rockets, it flew fairly high and functioned properly in regards to ejection of the parachute. We probably could have made this rocket fly higher by not using as much paint and making the nose of the rocket more streamlined, rather than striving for aesthetic goals, this would have reduced drag on the rocket, enabling it to fly further.
Sources of error include the fact that the time was being measured on a stopwatch by a someone on the ground, creating a sound delay from when the rocket popped to eject the nose and parachute, and when the observer actually heard this and started the timer. The fact that it was a person measuring the time during decent also means that there can be some human error involved due to reaction time-- the delay between when the person measuring time hears the rocket eject the parachute and when he or she starts the timer. Likewise, the reaction time delay when the rocket hits the ground. This difference in time affects the lab because it changes the amount of descent time the rocket experienced, changing the height that the rocket was perceived to travel. A way to solve this would be to have some sort of small accelerometer on board the rocket that could sense the canoes in velocity caused by free fall and impact with the ground.
Sources of error include the fact that the time was being measured on a stopwatch by a someone on the ground, creating a sound delay from when the rocket popped to eject the nose and parachute, and when the observer actually heard this and started the timer. The fact that it was a person measuring the time during decent also means that there can be some human error involved due to reaction time-- the delay between when the person measuring time hears the rocket eject the parachute and when he or she starts the timer. Likewise, the reaction time delay when the rocket hits the ground. This difference in time affects the lab because it changes the amount of descent time the rocket experienced, changing the height that the rocket was perceived to travel. A way to solve this would be to have some sort of small accelerometer on board the rocket that could sense the canoes in velocity caused by free fall and impact with the ground.
Danica's Conclusion:
After doing this lab Newton's laws of Motion were clearly observed and the dynamics, kinematics, momentum and impulse equations were used together and proved. It was calculated that the rocket reached a maximum height of our rocket was 54.5m and no higher because of the force of gravity and drag. After setting up our rocket on the launch pad with the help of our physics teacher it blasted off successfully using a A8-3 engine. We were able to observe a relatively new concept of drag force along with the force of gravity and how this affected how high the rocket travelled. The heights for the rocket's in the class ranged quite a bit but many factors had to be taken into consideration. The calculations seemed to be generally realistic with regards to possible sources of error. Our rocket reached a maximum height at 13.34 seconds while another rocket in the class had a maximum height of 16.42 (Tayanna and William's rocket) this shows that our rocket went lower than others did by almost 3 seconds. This could have been caused by a source of error in the rockets construction. Our rocket proved to be heavier than other rockets when compared which would have caused Fg to be greater because Fg=mg therefore the rocket would not go as high as others. This could have been avoided by using less spray paint and glue in the construction in order to keep the lightest weight possible. Another source of error could have been the flight path of the rocket. The rocket did not go straight up in the air it curved slightly sideways using force from the engine to do this causing a different height than would've been if the flight path was straight. This could have been because of fins hitting the force of air (possibly wind) that were not completely straight or a launch base that was crooked on the ground. This could be fixed by using a flat surface such as pavement, more accurately gluing the fins on or performing the experiment in a vacuum with no wind. This experiment could be improved if more than one test was performed per group so that data could be compared and analyzed for the same rocket. Regardless, Newton's Laws of Motion were demonstrated to be true for each portion of the rocket's flight and this experiment helped with my understanding and use of the formulas for dynamics, kinematics, momentum and impulse. In my opinion this project was very successful and fulfilled it's purpose to help us review what we learned at the beginning of the year. Linking the equations to a real life situation helped to open my eyes and improve my understanding in physics.