Three Main Parts Related To The Water Rocket

1. NOSECONE

The shape of nosecone has a significant influence on the height that the

rocket can reach. Because the drag varies with different shape of the

nosecone. For subsonic rockets, several common nosecone shapes and the

drag they generate as a relative percentage of the blunt nose are compared

in the following figure. [1]

According to the picture, a rounded, parabolic shape is ideal to minimize

drag and reach the highest altitude.

For material used to make the nosecone, a table tennis or medium density

foam can be alternative options. In addition, certain glue for connection is

needed too.

2. BODY

The body of the water rocket is going to be made with a COKE bottle.

The bottle we use is 1.5L. It will contain about 1/3 volume water and the
most part will be the fuel tank for the air. According to the Newton’s third

law, ‘to every action there is always opposed an equal reaction: or the

mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and

directed to contrary parts.’ In the water rocket project, water is used to be

one body while the water rocket is another body and the action of the

water comes from the air above when it is being pressurized. In order to

make the rocket fly as high as possible, it’s very important to find a

balance between the water and the air. We will use a simulation formula

to calculate how much water will make the rocket fly efficiently. What’s

more, the body of the rocket needs to build as smooth as possible in order

to reduce the drag what we call streamline. Considering it, we will use

minimal diameter of the bottle. The decrease of the diameter will cause

the decrease the volume of the bottle, to avoid the loss of the volume, we

now consider sticking two COKE bottle together to increase our rocket

volume. Increasing the rocket volume will increase the latitude.

3. HIGH PERFORMANCE FINS

The function is to let rocket fly more stable with lower drags

a) Shape: Clipped Delta

b) Airfoil and thickness: teardrop shaped and a suitable thickness which

could prevent rocket from flutter (much thinner is not the better ).

c) Number: stilled researching.

d) Material: thin sheets of fiberglass or carbon fiber will be better.

e) Connection with water rocket: Stiffness is important, otherwise the fin

will flutter, which leads to the fins snapping completely off from the

rocket.

4. REFERENCES

[1] http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/q0151.shtml

[2] http://www.aircommandrockets.com/flying_higher.html

[3] http://www.aircommandrockets.com/construction.htm#Body

[4]https://www.apogeerockets.com/Rocket_Books_Videos/Pamphlets_Re

ports/Tech_Pub_16

[5] Peak-of-Flight Newsletter271-Drag On Differing Rocket Shapes

[6] Peak-of-Flight Newsletter438- Sand Radial Taper into Fins - Jig Plan

[7]Peak-of-Flight Newsletter 442-What is the best fin shape for a model

rocket.