The Physics Behind Bottle Rockets
Description of our project
For our final project, we decided to make an instructional video on the physics behind bottle rockets. More specifically, we decided to focus on Newtons 1st and 3rd Law. Newton's First Law states that an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by a force. A bottle rocket is a great way to represent this law because, the rockets remain still until you add an unbalanced force which propels the rocket upwards. Newton's Third Law states that for action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. With a bottle rocket, as the air and water come out of the nozzle and bottle, a reaction force is created which propels the rocket up.
Newton's Third Law
Newton's Third Law States that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, And in the case with the bottle rocket the air and water are applying pressure on each other, thus causing the reaction. The way a bottle rocket works is a bottle filled partially with water is forced together with air, via an air pump. This water and air together causes the reaction, a physical reaction, not a chemical reaction. It is considered a physical reaction because what has been done can also be undone. Newton's third law comes into play here because when the water and air is pushed out of the bottle top, the b0ttle goes up. Action is the release of energy, and in this case the release of energy is the water and air pushed out of the bottle top, the reaction in this case is the bottle fly's up.