Ward's World Activity Guides

Page 12 Rock It at Home with this Rocket Activity (continued) 7. Keeping the bottle facing upright, take the rocket outside to an open area at least six feet from buildings. Put on your safety goggles. Stoop down near the ground on a flat, hard spot. 8. Quickly turn the bottle over and stand it on the ground on the pencil stand, move away quickly, and watch what happens! Expected Results: Results may vary based on materials used, setup, procedure, and other factors, however, here is an example on what to expect: • When baking soda and vinegar are mixed, the chemical reaction produces water and carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gas shoots off the cork and launches the rocket into the air. • In the plugged bottle, the carbon dioxide gas builds up until the pressure of all the contained gas causes the bottle to pop open. The pressurized carbon dioxide then quickly escapes the bottle through the open bottom. The rapid escape of the gas forces bottled to propel in the air — just like the release of air from the open end of a balloon can cause a balloon to fly. This is how the chemical reaction provides the thrust the bottle needs to launch. • You can watch this video to see an example of how it's done. • Tip: If the rocket did not launch, you might not have sealed the cork tightly enough. (If this happens, you may simply see many bubbles coming out of the bottle.) The rocket may not have launched right for some other apparent reason (such as not sealing the bottle fast enough). If it did not launch right, try preparing and relaunching the rocket. You may need a little practice to get used to launching the rocket. Teaching Notes: Questions and observations for students: • How long does it take for the chemical reaction to happen? • When the cork pops out, the rocket should launch — how high does the rocket go? • How do plants and humans process carbon dioxide gas differently? • How does this activity demonstrate what happens to a gas when it gets compressed? Follow-up: • Rinse and dry the rocket. Prepare the paper towel baking soda and vinegar as before, but this time use a little more than half the original amount of vinegar. a. Put your safety goggles on and launch your newly prepared rocket. b. Does it take longer, shorter, or about the same amount of time as the first rocket did to launch? Does it go a higher, shorter, or about the same distance? • Rinse and dry the rocket. Prepare the paper towel baking soda and vinegar as before, but this time use less than half the original amount of vinegar. a. Put your safety goggles on and launch the rocket. How long does it take to launch compared to the other two launches? b. How high does the rocket go compared to the previous two times? • If you are unsure of any of your results, you can try repeating them (using the same amount of baking soda and vinegar). • What amount of vinegar led to the highest launch height? Why do you think this is? • You should find that when the least amount of vinegar was used, it took longer to launch than when more vinegar was used, but the launch height was higher. Because there is less vinegar in the bottle, there is more space for carbon dioxide gas to fill. It takes longer for enough carbon dioxide gas to be made to fill this larger space so that there is enough pressure in the bottle to pop the cork out as it did before. Disposal/Clean-up: – If you launched your rocket on a concrete surface, spray the surface down with some water to clean it when you are all done doing your launches. + ward ' s science 5100 West Henrietta Road • PO Box 92912 • Rochester, New York 14692-9012 • p: 800 962-2660 • wardsci.com Find materials for this activity at wardsci.com. Discover more free activities at wardsworld.com

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