What factors affect the distance and speed of a balloon rocket? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMX7zgaLC0w
How does mass affect the time travel of the balloon?
The more mass you add, the harder it will be to get the balloon moving
. If you put too much mass on the balloon, the force generated by the air escaping from the balloon won’t be enough to move the combined mass of the balloon and weights.
What is the factor that causes the balloon and rocket to move upward?
The escaping air
exerts a force on the balloon itself. The balloon pushes back in a manner described by Newton’s Third Law of Motion. That opposing force—called thrust, in this case—propels the rocket forward.
Does the length of the straw affect how far the rocket travels?
They systematically test how straw length affects travel distance and accuracy.
The longer the straw, the more force that will be needed to get it to lift off, but also the more thrust it will have
. Of course, the longer the straw, the heavier the rocket will be.
Does the angle of the string affect how far the rocket travels?
In Part 2, when you actually start letting the rockets fly, you will notice that since the rockets on the angled string are trying to overcome gravity,
they can not travel as far as the rockets on the horizontal string
. This will be true as long as you put the same amount of air in both balloons.
The Science Behind It
This experiment is
all about the air and thrust
! Once you let out the air inside of your balloon, it creates a forward motion called THRUST! Thrust is a pushing force created by energy that pushes your balloon all the way across your string!
The air trapped inside the balloon pushes out the open end
, causing the balloon to move forward. The force of the air escaping is the “action”; the movement of the balloon forward is the “reaction” predicted by Newton’s Third Law of Motion.
In a balloon when the temperature increases, the individual gas molecules that you can’t see but that make up gases start moving really fast. When the molecules are moving fast under higher temperatures,
they run into the sides of the balloon more often making the balloon bigger
.
- Reduce Weight. Examine your car carefully for any opportunity to shed as much weight as possible. …
- Minimize Drag. Drag, or air resistance, is important even at low speeds because the balloon car is so lightweight. …
- Cut the Friction. …
- Improve the Nozzle.
The simplest answer is:
no, an object’s weight usually will not change its falling speed
. For example, you can test this by dropping a bowling ball and a basketball from the same height at the same time–they should fall at the same speed and land at the same time.
Balloons and Rockets
When the neck of an inflated balloon is released, the stretched rubber material
pushes against the air in the balloon. The air rushes out of the neck of the balloon. The action of the air rushing from the balloon pushes against the balloon, moving it in the opposite direction.
What should the students do to change the amount of friction that slows the motion of the balloon rocket?
Try different color balloons. Use a different type of tape. Replace the string with thin wire.
When you launch a pop bottle rocket, it is moving both upward and forward. All other things equal (
the mass and design of the rocket, the pressure at which it is released, and the weather conditions
), the angle at which you launch your rocket will determine its range (the horizontal distance it travels).
Increasing the length increases the surface area
. The rocket will have a harder time escaping Earth’s atmosphere and will have to use more fuel, reducing the distance it can travel on fuel. Shorten it and it will have less surface area. It will have an easier time escaping, using less fuel on the way.
Balloon cars rely on Newton’s Third Law of Motion .
As the air rushes backward out of the balloon it pushes the car forward in the opposite direction with an equal force
.
As the balloon car is rolling, there is some friction
between the wheels and the floor, between the axle and wheels or the axle and the straw bearing and between the whole balloon car and the surrounding air
. All of this rubbing causes everything to heat up ever so slightly.
They systematically test how straw length affects travel distance and accuracy.
The longer the straw, the more force that will be needed to get it to lift off, but also the more thrust it will have
. Of course, the longer the straw, the heavier the rocket will be.
The independent variable, therefore, was
the type of string
, and the dependent variable was its velocity. In order to compare velocities, I had to measure the distance the balloon rocket traveled and the time it went that distance.
