History Of Water Rockets

1
History Of Water Rockets

• The first water rocket I could find record of was
  made of tin cans.
• Soda pop bottles caused a big growth spurt in
  popularity
• The picture at right shows a manned water rocket

2
Water Rocket Physics

• The driving force behind all water rockets is
  that every action has an equal opposite reaction

rocket
water
3
Water Rocket Physics (continued)

• For a rocket to fly straight the center of
  gravity has to be in front of the center of
  pressure

• Otherwise the rocket will not fly straight.

4
Diagrams of Rockets
backslider
simple rocket
Mr. Bouncy
5
Launch Frame 1

• This is the rocket on the launch pad
• Note that the reservoir is approximately 1/3 full
  of water

6
Launch Frame 2

• Here the rocket starts to take off
• To make the rocket fly straighter we added a
  launch tube

7
Launch Frame 3

• This is the rocket at the end of the acceleration
  stage
• As the water runs out it rushes out creating a
  toroidal vortex (in theory)

8
Launch Frame 4

• Here the rocket has flown off the page
• These are the remains of the toroidal vortex
• Note the launch tube jet