Bottle Rocket
Bottle Rocket
Bottle Rocket
Brainstorm
Design Possibilities
The following are illustrations of possible designs for the fins. Any
variation of these suggested designs may be used and found to
perform better than another when combined with various bottle
designs.
!Stop! All fins must be at least 10 cm from the
throat exit plane of the bottle see diagram 1. This
schematic is provided solely to give examples of
fin design. We encourage you to be creative.
MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
Off-limit Materials
Metal
Glass
Hard Plastics/Rocks
Materials and Tools Needed
Adhesive (examples)
Foam mounting tape (approximately 1/16 thick,
2-sided adhesive)
Carpet tape (thin 2-sided adhesive)
Clear packing tape or strapping tape
Attach the nose cone to the top of the rocket by using one
of the recommended adhesives.
BEFORE AFTER
Option 3: The length of the Rocket can
be increased by adding another bottle
between the nose cone stage and the
pressure vessel. Remember to stay
within the dimensional limits for the
competition.
Pressure
Vessel
A B C
A) For lengthened rockets (Option 3) A piece of
1/2 PVC pipe can be used to align the nose cone
to a second bottle prior to assembly with the main
pressure vessel bottle.
C) Now, remove the PVC shaft and join upper nose cone
stage to the pressure vessel. Carefully align the
the stages.
Thick Mounting
Tape Center Spar
Note: Adding clear packing tape keeps the leading edge from curling
up and mounting tape adds strength and stiffness to the fin.
Tip: Add a smooth film of glue around the base of each fin.
Diagram 1
Rocket Identification
Min Cone Radius = 0.5 inches
Ballast Added to the
Nose Cone (e.g.
Styrofoam-peanuts,
shredded paper, etc.)
Nose Cone
Bottle Height
(max. 30 inches)
Pressure Vessel
(Clear 2 Liter Bottle)
Fin Fin
Fins Start
Bottle Throat (min. 4 inches)
Rocket Clear of Any
Coverings (min. 3 inches) Throat
Exit Plane
Diagram 2
Nose Cone Diagram
Min Cone Radius = 0.5 inches
Cone Tip
R Note: Make certain
to construct the tip
of the nose cone
per the minimum
cone radius
(0.5 inches) for safe
operation.
Diagram 3
Fin Diagram
max 16.5 cm
max 10.2 cm