Volcanic Rockets

We know that bread soda and vinegar can be mixed together producing a gas (Carbon Dioxide).

We wondered if this gas could power a small rocket.

It did, and caused the rocket to blast off.

Very exciting!

We also decided that this could be done with fizzy tablets and water or with coke and mentos sweets.

We must try these sometime.

Foam Rockets

Foam rockets with Ms. McLoughlin's and Mr. Faherty's classes.

We used radiator lagging foam, duct tape, elastic bands and some nice coloured card to make our foam rockets.

Cutting a rectangular card into a square, then into 2 equal triangles gives nice fins for the rocket.

Launching our rockets was so much fun.

 

These rockets are powered by the elastic band.  The energy that gets trapped in the elastic as we pull it back (potential energy) is the energy that makes the rocket move (kinetic energy)!

Fizzy Rockets

Mr. Faherty's class and Ms. McLoughlin's classes together launched fizzy rockets.

We had to fill the rocket up 1/3 full of water.

We added a fizzy tablet, popped on the lid, counted down and waited for the explosions.

It was very exciting.

Some of our rockets launched higher than others.

The power to launch the rocket comes from the chemical reaction between the water and the fizzy tablet, causing the gas carbon dioxide to form.

This builds up under pressure and eventually the pressure becomes too strong and the rocket flies off.

A fantastic chemically powered rocket!

The Beach - Exploring our Local Environment