History Of Water Rockets

● The first water rocket I could find record of was made of tin cans.

● Soda pop bottles caused a big growth spurt in popularity

● The picture at right shows a manned water rocket

Water Rocket Physics

● The driving force behind all water rockets is that every action has an equal & opposite reaction

waterrocket

Water Rocket Physics (continued)

● For a rocket to fly straight the center of gravity has to be in front of the center of pressure

● Otherwise the rocket will not fly straight.

CG

CP

stableCG

CP unstable

Diagrams of Rockets

nose cone

parachute

air

high pressureair

water

fins

tennis ball

simple rocket

Mr. Bouncy

backslider

Launch Frame 1

● This is the rocket on the launch pad

● Note that the reservoir is approximately 1/3 full of water

Launch Frame 2

● Here the rocket starts to take off

● To make the rocket fly straighter we added a launch tube

Launch Frame 3

● This is the rocket at the end of the acceleration stage

● As the water runs out it rushes out creating a toroidal vortex (in theory)

Launch Frame 4

● Here the rocket has flown off the page

● These are the remains of the toroidal vortex

● Note the launch tube jet