1. Primary Rocket Car Project
Science, ICT, Design and Technology

2. We saw this on the internet and wondered……… How does that work?
Click zippy to start – it starts in a few seconds
Source of the video:

3. The Science What provides the force to power the rocket car?
Issac Newton’s third law of motion states that action and reaction are equal and opposite.
So the force leaving the back of the rocket car is equal to the force that will propel the rocket car forward. Easy!
How is the force generated?

4. Water and air power
Start to fill a bottle full of any substance and eventually the pressure forces the gas out of the bottle. Think about that shaken bottle of coke when the cap is released! The gas is released along with a good quantity of coke.
The force of the gas and the liquid will propel the bottle in the opposite direction.
The rocket car uses this principle but replaces the carbon dioxide with air and the coke with water.

5. The Design and Technology
Construct a chassis with axles and wheels to support a 2 litre drinks bottle.
It must roll freely and be of a sturdy construction that will allow the rocket car to survive being tested several times.
You may wish to consider aerodynamics.

6. The ICT
Conduct several tests using different combinations of air and water in the rocket car, record the distance travelled in a spreadsheet and plot a graph of your results.

7. The Challenge
To explore the air to water combination which will propel the rocket car over the furthest distance.
The only variable you can change is the volume of air and water.
Which variables must be kept the same?
GOOD LUCK!

8. We got it to work!
Movie 1
Movie 2