Group: Jennie, Katy, and Rachel-8th Hour

Experimental Design Diagram for Variable 3—Whether the Bottle Cap is Off or Not

A. How does the bottle cap being on or off of the 20 ounce pop bottle affect the distance traveled by the
rocket?
B. If the bottle cap is on, we predict the rocket will travel farther because the rocket is sealed and
arrow-dynamic. If the bottle cap is off, we predict it will travel a short distance because a lot of air will
be rushing into it and the air resistance will slow it down a lot.
C.
Distance Traveled by the Rocket Depends on Whether the Bottle Cap is On or Not
Bottle Cap On/Off Trial 1 (distance Trial Two Trial Three Average
traveled in meters)
On 75 60 75 70
Off 30 60 51 47
Source: Jennie, Katy, and Rachel, Rocket Experiment May 2010
D. Five controlled variables of this experiment include the following: 75 psi (pounds of air pressure per
square inch) inside the rocket; 100 milliliters of water in the top bottle of the rocket and 1,000
milliliters of water in the bottom bottle of the rocket; the 20 ounce bottle being on the top and the 2 liter
bottle on the bottom (when you make the rocket, that is); right triangle wings that are 15 centimeters
long and 11 centimeters wide; and having the label off both pop bottles.
E. The materials needed for this experiment are the following: a 20 ounce pop bottle, duct tape, a 2 liter
pop bottle, cardboard, a ruler or meter stick (to measure both the distance the rocket travels and the
length and width of the triangle), a measuring cup to measure out the amount of water in each bottle,
cardboard to make the triangles out of, a scissors, a protractor to measure the angle of the triangles, and
something (I'm not sure what you would call it) to pump the air pressure into the rocket.
F. Get the materials that you need for the experiment—listed above. Measure out 1,000 milliliters of
water and pour it into the 2 liter. Then cut out the wings of the rocket according to the specifications
listed above in the controlled variables section, making sure to make accurate measurements with the
protractor and ruler. Tape the wings at even intervals on the 2 liter, using A LOT of tape to make sure
they are secure and rigid and won't fall off. Then, put the cap on the 2 liter and tape the empty 20 oz
bottle to the 2 liter, again using a lot of tape to make sure they are securely anchored together. Next,
measure out 100 milliliters of water to put into the 20 oz bottle and pour it in. Then, according to what
you are testing, either screw the cap on the top bottle of leave it off, pump the 75 psi into the rocket,
launch it off, and record the results of your test in the data table.
I.
J. 1. Did our data support our hypothesis? This time, our data actually did support our hypothesis.
When the bottle cap was off, the water fell out of the top bottle, and the combination of that and the air
flowing into the bottle slowed the rocket down considerably and affected out far the rocket traveled,
like we predicted in our hypothesis.
2. What changes would we make to this experiment if we did it again? If possible, we would have
tried to be able to control the weather conditions, as mentioned in our other experiments, because they
affected the outcome of some of our trials considerably.