Bottle Rocket Experiment

By: Ethan S.

Reasoning- Why it works

The reason bottles can launch into the air is because of Carbon Dioxide, or as anyone who plays airsoft or paintball would call it, CO2. This gas can be agitated and then builds pressure inside of a tank, or as in my experiment, a bottle. The pressure forces the sports lid open and then the pressure is released, propelling the bottle upward.

This is a sport lid, as I mentioned.

CO2 FactsDo you know what CO2 looks like? It is made of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, as seen on the picture. Also, as mentioned before, you may know CO2 from the tanks in an airsoft or paintball gun. Everyone must fill tanks of it for paintball and airsoft guns.

Used MaterialsTo try this at home, you need a bottle with a sports lid, carbonized tablets, water, and a bottle holder.

Procedures

To start, you need to put the tablets into the bottle.Next, get the lid ready and pour in the water. (make sure you have enough)After that, put the lid on and shake the bottle. Make sure the sports lid is closed.Finally, place the bottle in the holder, run back, and watch it fly.

True or false? More CO2 can launch bottles higher

False, it takes the same amount of CO2 to reach the launching point of a bottle.True, extra CO2 can add more pressure faster in the bottle, leading to more propulsion.

The answer is…True!

Through my own experimentation, I found that when more CO2 is added to the bottle, it filled fast enough to exert more pressure

Final results

After having fun with different variables in my experiment, the results are that with more CO2, more height and distance is achievable.

Bibliography"Fizzy Bottle Rockets." Royal Society of Chemistry (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

"Google Images." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.