Rocket Launch Lab

By Benjamin Rose
Academy for Math, Engineering, & Science
A2
Douglas Hendricks's
Honors Physics Class

Rose 2

Abstract
To predict the height of a launched model rocket, properties of kinematic and dynamic physics were used, thrust and drag
force measurements were determined, and various techniques learned in class were applied. These techniques included
Newton's second law of motion, the impulse-momentum theorem, numerical iteration, air resistance and drag, and
trigonometry. Most of the rocket launches provided invalid data due to their curved paths, but two of the rockets provided
usable data: a red and yellow rocket, with an A engine, flew a height of 48 meters as opposed to a predicted 63 meters, while
a red and black rocket, with a B engine, flew a height of 78 meters with a predicted height of 67 meters.

Introduction
This lab was conducted to solidify understanding of physics and motion, as the techniques used were first learned from time
in class. Launching model rockets may be a family-fun activity, but the application of physics to these launches can be used
to find just how high they will fly before returning. The first set of these techniques is known as kinematics, the study of
motion. Kinematics involves calculations of properties like velocity and acceleration, which describe how objects move.
Dynamics is the study of forces that cause this motion, and involves equations such as Newton's second law

F=ma .

When a force is exerted on an object for a certain amount of time, that object undergoes an impulse I =F t .
Momentum is the amount of punch that an object carries with it as it moves, defined as its mass times its velocity

P=mv . When an object is moving through air, it experiences some resistance, known as drag force. Drag force points
in the opposite direction of the object's motion, much like friction on a surface. Different objects will feel different amounts
of resistance, depending on a complex relationship with its size and shape. This results in different objects having different
drag coefficients, acting as the proportionality constant for the relation

F d v 2 , described in further detail in the Drag

Force section.
When calculating the thrust of a rocket engine, one equation that was used was the impulse-momentum theorem

F t = P , derived from the definitions of momentum and impulse. Force is defined as mass times acceleration, or
mv
mv
)t=mv . The
. As such, both sides can alternately be written as (
t
t
t's on the left side cancel, resulting in the true equation mv=mv .
mass times velocity over time

F=ma=

The height of a launched cannot be solved analytically, as the force of the engine thrust changes during the rocket's flight.
Instead, processes such as numerical iteration are used to approximate solutions. Numerical iteration divides a large
problem into smaller slices, often in discrete time intervals, and uses a set of equations on a series of these iterations to
approach an approximation. As long as the slices are thin (in this lab's case, 0.1s was optimal), these approximations will be
very accurate.
As briefly mentioned before, one of the measurements that must be found before the rocket's maximum height can be
predicted is the force of thrust output by its engine. Rocket engines are broken up into different categories and are named as
such, with an example being a B6-8 engine. The letter shows the total impulse output by the engine in Newton seconds,
starting with 2.5 Newton-seconds (Ns) at A and doubling with each subsequent letter, so a B engine would output 5 Ns, a C
engine would output 10 Ns, etc. The first number after the letter indicates the average force put out by the engine in
Newtons, so the above B6-8 engine would exert a force of around 6 N. Rocket engines also have a frontal discharge that
activates after a certain delay, usually to open a parachute or ignite the next stage in a multi-stage rocket. The number after
the hyphen is the amount of time between initial burnout and the ignition of the front discharge, in seconds (e.g. 8 seconds
for the B6-8 engine).

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Engine Thrust Analysis

To properly label a rocket engine, measurements of its average thrust force and impulse must be done. The measurement of
the rocket engine's thrust was conducted using a force gauge connected to a Calculator-Based Lab (CBL). The engine and
force gauge was set up as follows:

To CBL
Engine

Thrust Force
Force Gauge

Track
The CBL was zeroed (as it would otherwise treat a force of zero unpredictably) and configured to sample every 0.1s for 3
seconds (30 samples) and trigger when the measured force dropped below -0.5N; this trigger was added so that the observer
didn't have to start the sampling process in perfect sync with the engine ignition. The CBL wasn't calibrated, however; the
CBL being correctly calibrated beforehand was an assumption that may have led to inaccurate results. Pushing force was
reported as negative, so the force of the rocket pushing against the force gauge was initially reported as a list of negative
numbers. The following table and graph is the collected data for the force exerted by the engine, with the force multiplied
by -1 to make the numbers positive:
Force (N)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3

Impulse (Ns)
0 N/A
0
0
0
0
-0.0303955 -0.00303955
2.06686
0.206686
8.51063
0.851063
5.95744
0.595744
4.71124
0.471124
4.46808
0.446808
3.52583
0.352583
3.95136
0.395136
4.19453
0.419453
3.76899
0.376899
3.55623
0.355623
3.70821
0.370821
4.01215
0.401215
3.86018
0.386018
3.73859
0.373859
3.86018
0.386018
3.92097
0.392097
3.86018
0.386018
3.92097
0.392097
3.86018
0.386018
4.13373
0.413373
0.638302
0.0638302
0.24316
0.024316
0.212769
0.0212769
0.212769
0.0212769
0.182373
0.0182373
0.151981
0.0151981
0.121578
0.0121578

Force of Rocket Engine over Time

9
8
7
6
Force (N)

Time (s)

5
4
3
2
1
0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

-1
Time (s)

Impulse:
Avg. Force:

8.53190665
4.1793265

Impulse was calculated as area under the force-time graph, as impulse is defined as force times time, in this case width
times height respectively. With an impulse of approximately 8.5 Ns, the engine was determined to be a weak C engine: C
engines normally have an impulse of around 10 Ns. The average force was calculated to be approximately 4.2 N. As a
result, the tested engine was classified as a C4 engine, the 4 indicating an average force of around 4 N. However, while it

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was experimentally determined to be a C4 engine, it was labeled as a C6, stating an average force of 6 N; this could be due
to the engine not being given as much gunpowder, or the force gauge being calibrated incorrectly.

Drag Force (Air Resistance)

Air resistance is the force acting on an object that is traveling through air. At lower speeds, this resistance is negligible, but
at higher speeds like those underwent by a rocket, air resistance becomes strong enough to regard in calculations. It has
been experimentally determined that air resistance, or drag force, is proportional to the square of its velocity
For this to be an equality, the drag coefficient
force

F d v 2 .

2
k d is introduced, resulting in the equation F d =k d v . To find the drag

F d at any velocity v, the drag coefficient k d must be determined. This is done by calculating drag force at a

specific wind speed and solving the above equation for

kd .

Analytically calculating the drag force on (and by extension, the drag coefficient of) an object is very impractical, if not
impossible; drag is instead calculated experimentally by placing the object in a wind tunnel, like so:

Honeycomb
Structure

String (T) a

Turbulent
Wind Flow

Tested
Object
Laminar
Wind Flow

The honeycomb structure is in place so that the outside turbulent wind flow is corrected into a more laminar, or organized,
flow, keeping the tested object more steady. After angle a is measured, the force of drag is calculated. The following freebody diagram illustrates the variables necessary for calculation, with forces indicated in red:
T sin a
a

T cos a
a
Fd

Object

Wind

Fg = mg

Starting with Newton's Second Law

F=ma the forces acted on the object can be represented as

T cos amg=0 or alternately as T cos a=mg . As tension is ultimately irrelevant for the topic of air resistance,
T sin aF d=0
T sin a=F d

Rose 5
it was solved for first, yielding the equation
drag force Fd is determined as

Fd=

T=

mg
. Substituting for T in the second equation, the formula for the
cos a

mg sin a
which may be represented as F d =mg tan a .
cos a

k d , the equation for force of drag is substituted, resulting in the equation

To find the drag coefficient

mg tan a=k d v 2 , which is then solved for k d to obtain k d=

mg tan a
.
2
v

The smallest rocket used, the red and yellow rocket, had a mass of 61g (0.061kg) and was suspended at an angle of 30 in
the wind tunnel, with a wind speed of 32 m/s. With those measurements, the coefficient of drag was calculated as

k d=

mg tan a (0.061)(9.8)tan (30 )

=
=0.0003 .
v2
(32)2

After calculating the red and yellow rocket's drag coefficient, the coefficient of a larger white rocket was going to be found
the same way. There was a problem, though: the white rocket was too big to fit in the wind tunnel, and thus its drag
coefficient could not be directly calculated. As such, a ping-pong ball of the same radius as the white rocket's nose cone was
placed in the wind tunnel and its drag force was calculated to be 0.0005. Spheres experience more drag than cones due to
the air having to travel a farther distance around a sphere than a cone, and larger objects experience more drag than smaller
objects of the same shape for the same reason. Thus it was reasonable to assume that the white rocket's drag coefficient was
between the red and yellow rocket's coefficient and the ping pong ball's:

k d [ 0.0003,0.0005]

Numerical Launch Model

The flight path of a rocket can be determined using the coefficient of drag of the rocket, thrust data from the rocket engine's
manufacturer, and the mass of the combined rocket and engine; this flight path is calculated at specific time intervals, in this
case every 0.1s. Some assumptions are made in these calculations: that the rocket's mass doesn't decrease during flight,
which is untrue due to the engine losing mass from burning fuel; and that during any given time interval, the thrust output
by the engine is constant, which while also untrue is reasonable as long as the time interval is kept short.
The following formulas were used in the calculation of the rocket's flight path:

Average Thrust:

Thr 1 +Thr 2
2

Thr 1 and Thr 2 are the thrust during the previous and current interval, respectively.

Drag Force:

F d =k dv 2f

v f is the final velocity one interval ago.

k d is the rocket's coefficient of drag.

Average Net Force:

Thr avg=

F avg=Thr avg mgF d

mg is the force of gravity (mass times Earth's acceleration of gravity, 9.8)

Initial Velocity:

v i = previous interval's v f

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Final Velocity:

v f =v i +

t is the length of the time interval, 0.1s.

Average Velocity:

Final Height:

F avg t
m

v avg=

v i +v f
2

h f =h i + v avg t

hi is the previous interval's h f

Under Appendix A is a spreadsheet of the data that was calculated using the above formulas for a 0.050 kg rocket with a
drag coefficient of 0.0003 and a C6 engine (0.024 kg), with the maximum height in the Final Height column highlighted
in bold (280.85m).
In the table below are the heights that different rockets would reach using different engines:
Mass (w/o
Rocket
Engine)
Red/Black
78 g
Big White
71 g
Red/Yellow
39 g

Drag
A8 Engine B6 Engine C6 Engine
Coeff. (24 g)
(18 g)
(15 g)
0.0004
24
67
180
0.0004
28
75
196
0.0003
63
133
281

Out of curiosity about the influence of air resistance, separate calculations were performed using a drag coefficient of 0,
thus ignoring air resistance. At first, the force of drag was negligible, but at higher speeds, the lack of air resistance meant
that the rocket's height never peaked, and the rocket kept rising long after the engine thrust stopped. This is why air
resistance must be accounted for: at high velocity, the drag force becomes very large.

Flight Results
With the initial predictions calculated, the rocket could be launched and its height measured. The method used for finding
the rocket's maximum height was to measure the angle it created with the ground at that height, as illustrated in the
following side view:

Rocket

h
a
o

d
Observer

Launch Pad

As the observer's eye was not at ground level, their height, about 1.5 meters (most humans are 1-2 meters in height), was
added to the height formed by the above triangle. Measuring only one such angle would be insufficient however, as rockets

Rose 7
don't often fly straight upwards and instead curve to one side. For higher accuracy, three angles were measured at points
120 from each other, as shown:

Angle c

Angle b
120

Launch Pad
d

Angle a
To measure these angles, a protractor was attached to a washer on a string, as shown in the next image, and the protractor
was held so the washer could dangle freely, thus allowing an angle to be measured. The measured angle would then be
subtracted by 90 so that pointing at the horizon would yield a value of 0.

Protractor

Angle
Horizon

Washer
The angles were then averaged, provided their measures were close enough to each other (within about 20).
As the triangle formed from the launch pad, the observer measuring the angle, and the rocket is nearly a right triangle, the
tangent of the measured angle a is equal to the rocket's height from the observer h over the observer's distance from the
launch pad d:

tan a=

h
. Solving for height, the equation h=d tan a is obtained. As an example, if an observer
d

were 30 meters away from the launch pad and measured an angle of 52, the resulting height would be

h=30 tan 52 =38.40 m or about 38 meters. Adding the observer's height of around 1.5 meters, the final height
would be about 40. meters.
The following data was collected from each launch that yielded usable data. While five launches were conducted, only two
could have their maximum heights reasonably calculated, as the other three rockets curved so sharply that finding a

Rose 8
maximum height for them was infeasible.
Rocket
Red/Yellow
Red/Black

Engine
A
B

Angle 1
40
47

Angle 2
44
50

Angle 3
45
74

Average Angle Maximum Height Predicted Height

43
48m
63m
57
78m
67m

Conclusion
The Red and Yellow rocket was launched 48 meters high, but was predicted to fly 63 meters high. The Red and Black rocket
was launched 78 meters high, but was predicted to fly 67 meters high. One possible reason for the inaccurate predictions is
that none of the launched rockets flew straight up; the model assumed that the rocket would fly straight, which would lead
to a higher prediction in the event of a curved path. Another problem could be improper measurement of an angle, caused by
either an observer holding the protractor incorrectly, the washer being unable to dangle and thus provide a result, or the
rocket flying in such a curved path that the angle would have been hard to reasonably determine.
One potential improvement to the experiment for better results would have been to perform more trials with the rocket
launches, as doing so would allow for erroneous launches while still yielding a large amount of data. Incorporating more
variables in the numerical model, like flight angle or wind, would also provide more accurate results, assuming their
reasonably correct implementation. As stated in the section Engine Thrust Analysis, calibrating the CBL could have
improved the accuracy of the thrust data, though since data from the engine manufacturer was used instead of data from the
lab, calibration would ultimately have been unnecessary.

Reflection
I enjoyed working on this lab. I've launched rockets for years (though I haven't launched any recently), but I've never known
exactly how far they would fly. That's the thing I like about physics: it helps me visualize situations like the flight path of a
ball or the speed a car can go before it slides off an icy road. It's great to see almost everything in this class so far put
together into one project, and we're not even close to finished with the year.

Rose 9

Appendix A: Numerical Prediction Data

Calculated for a 0.050 kg rocket and C6 engine (0.024 kg) with a drag coefficient of 0.0003. The maximum height is
highlighted in bold in the Final Height column. Note that any numbers after the maximum are invalid, as the model
assumes that thrust is always pointed downwards, which isn't the case once the rocket starts descending.

Time

Thrust

0.0

0.1

6.0

0.2

14.0

0.3

5.0

0.4

4.7

0.5

4.5

0.6

4.5

0.7

4.5

0.8

4.5

0.9

4.5

Average
Thrust

Drag Force
(using prior vf)

Average
Net Force

Average
Net Impulse

Initial
Velocity

Final
Velocity

Average
Velocity

Initial
Height

Final
Height

(Thr1+Thr2)/2

(Fd = kd*v2)

(Thravg - mg - Fd)

(FnetDt)

(= last row's vf)

(vi +FnetDt/m)

(vi + vf)/2

(= last row's hf)

(hi +vavg*Dt)

Final
Time

3.00

0.00

2.38

0.24

0.00

3.78

1.89

0.00

0.19

0.1

10.00

0.00

9.38

0.94

3.78

18.67

11.23

0.19

1.31

0.2

9.50

0.10

8.78

0.88

18.67

32.60

25.63

1.31

3.88

0.3

4.85

0.32

3.91

0.39

32.60

38.81

35.71

3.88

7.45

0.4

4.60

0.45

3.53

0.35

38.81

44.42

41.62

7.45

11.61

0.5

4.50

0.59

3.29

0.33

44.42

49.64

47.03

11.61

16.31

0.6

4.50

0.74

3.14

0.31

49.64

54.63

52.14

16.31

21.52

0.7

4.50

0.90

2.99

0.30

54.63

59.37

57.00

21.52

27.22

0.8

4.50

1.06

2.83

0.28

59.37

63.86

61.61

27.22

33.39

0.9

4.50

1.22

2.66

0.27

63.86

68.08

65.97

33.39

39.98

4.50

1.39

2.49

0.25

68.08

72.03

70.06

39.98

46.99

1.1

4.50

1.56

2.33

0.23

72.03

75.73

73.88

46.99

54.38

1.2

4.50

1.72

2.16

0.22

75.73

79.16

77.44

54.38

62.12

1.3

4.50

1.88

2.00

0.20

79.16

82.34

80.75

62.12

70.19

1.4

4.50

2.03

1.85

0.18

82.34

85.27

83.80

70.19

78.58

1.5

4.50

2.18

1.70

0.17

85.27

87.97

86.62

78.58

87.24

1.6

4.50

2.32

1.56

0.16

87.97

90.45

89.21

87.24

96.16

1.7

4.50

2.45

1.43

0.14

90.45

92.72

91.58

96.16

105.32

1.8

2.35

2.58

-0.85

-0.08

92.72

91.37

92.04

105.32

114.52

1.9

0.10

2.50

-3.02

-0.30

91.37

86.58

88.97

114.52

123.42

0.00

2.25

-2.87

-0.29

86.58

82.03

84.30

123.42

131.85

2.1

0.00

2.02

-2.64

-0.26

82.03

77.84

79.93

131.85

139.84

2.2

0.00

1.82

-2.44

-0.24

77.84

73.98

75.91

139.84

147.43

2.3

0.00

1.64

-2.26

-0.23

73.98

70.39

72.18

147.43

154.65

2.4

0.00

1.49

-2.10

-0.21

70.39

67.05

68.72

154.65

161.52

2.5

0.00

1.35

-1.97

-0.20

67.05

63.93

65.49

161.52

168.07

2.6

0.00

1.23

-1.84

-0.18

63.93

61.00

62.47

168.07

174.32

2.7

0.00

1.12

-1.73

-0.17

61.00

58.25

59.63

174.32

180.28

2.8

0.00

1.02

-1.64

-0.16

58.25

55.66

56.95

180.28

185.98

2.9

0.00

0.93

-1.55

-0.15

55.66

53.20

54.43

185.98

191.42

0.00

0.85

-1.47

-0.15

53.20

50.87

52.04

191.42

196.62

3.1

0.00

0.78

-1.39

-0.14

50.87

48.66

49.77

196.62

201.60

3.2

0.00

0.71

-1.33

-0.13

48.66

46.55

47.61

201.60

206.36

3.3

0.00

0.65

-1.27

-0.13

46.55

44.54

45.55

206.36

210.92

3.4

0.00

0.60

-1.21

-0.12

44.54

42.62

43.58

210.92

215.28

3.5

0.00

0.54

-1.16

-0.12

42.62

40.77

41.69

215.28

219.44

3.6

0.00

0.50

-1.12

-0.11

40.77

39.00

39.89

219.44

223.43

3.7

0.00

0.46

-1.07

-0.11

39.00

37.30

38.15

223.43

227.25

3.8

4.5

1.1

4.5

1.2

4.5

1.3

4.5

1.4

4.5

1.5

4.5

1.6

4.5

1.7

4.5

1.8

4.5

1.9

0.2

0.0

2.1

0.0

2.2

0.0

2.3

0.0

2.4

0.0

2.5

0.0

2.6

0.0

2.7

0.0

2.8

0.0

2.9

0.0

0.0

3.1

0.0

3.2

0.0

3.3

0.0

3.4

0.0

3.5

0.0

3.6

0.0

3.7

0.0

3.8

0.0

Rose 10
3.5

0.0

3.6

0.0

3.7

0.0

3.8

0.0

3.9

0.0

0.0

4.1

0.0

4.2

0.0

4.3

0.0

4.4

0.0

4.5

0.0

4.6

0.0

4.7

0.0

4.8

0.0

4.9

0.0

0.0

5.1

0.0

5.2

0.0

5.3

0.0

5.4

0.0

5.5

0.0

5.6

0.0

5.7

0.0

5.8

0.0

5.9

0.0

0.0

6.1

0.0

6.2

0.0

6.3

0.0

6.4

0.0

6.5

0.0

6.6

0.0

6.7

0.0

6.8

0.0

6.9

0.0

0.0

7.1

0.0

7.2

0.0

7.3

0.0

0.00

0.60

-1.21

-0.12

44.54

42.62

43.58

210.92

215.28

3.5

0.00

0.54

-1.16

-0.12

42.62

40.77

41.69

215.28

219.44

3.6

0.00

0.50

-1.12

-0.11

40.77

39.00

39.89

219.44

223.43

3.7

0.00

0.46

-1.07

-0.11

39.00

37.30

38.15

223.43

227.25

3.8

0.00

0.42

-1.03

-0.10

37.30

35.65

36.48

227.25

230.90

3.9

0.00

0.38

-1.00

-0.10

35.65

34.07

34.86

230.90

234.38

0.00

0.35

-0.97

-0.10

34.07

32.54

33.30

234.38

237.71

4.1

0.00

0.32

-0.93

-0.09

32.54

31.05

31.79

237.71

240.89

4.2

0.00

0.29

-0.91

-0.09

31.05

29.61

30.33

240.89

243.92

4.3

0.00

0.26

-0.88

-0.09

29.61

28.21

28.91

243.92

246.82

4.4

0.00

0.24

-0.86

-0.09

28.21

26.86

27.54

246.82

249.57

4.5

0.00

0.22

-0.83

-0.08

26.86

25.53

26.19

249.57

252.19

4.6

0.00

0.20

-0.81

-0.08

25.53

24.24

24.89

252.19

254.68

4.7

0.00

0.18

-0.79

-0.08

24.24

22.98

23.61

254.68

257.04

4.8

0.00

0.16

-0.78

-0.08

22.98

21.75

22.37

257.04

259.28

4.9

0.00

0.14

-0.76

-0.08

21.75

20.55

21.15

259.28

261.39

0.00

0.13

-0.74

-0.07

20.55

19.36

19.95

261.39

263.39

5.1

0.00

0.11

-0.73

-0.07

19.36

18.21

18.79

263.39

265.26

5.2

0.00

0.10

-0.72

-0.07

18.21

17.07

17.64

265.26

267.03

5.3

0.00

0.09

-0.70

-0.07

17.07

15.95

16.51

267.03

268.68

5.4

0.00

0.08

-0.69

-0.07

15.95

14.85

15.40

268.68

270.22

5.5

0.00

0.07

-0.68

-0.07

14.85

13.76

14.31

270.22

271.65

5.6

0.00

0.06

-0.67

-0.07

13.76

12.69

13.23

271.65

272.97

5.7

0.00

0.05

-0.67

-0.07

12.69

11.64

12.16

272.97

274.19

5.8

0.00

0.04

-0.66

-0.07

11.64

10.59

11.11

274.19

275.30

5.9

0.00

0.03

-0.65

-0.07

10.59

9.56

10.08

275.30

276.31

0.00

0.03

-0.64

-0.06

9.56

8.53

9.05

276.31

277.21

6.1

0.00

0.02

-0.64

-0.06

8.53

7.52

8.03

277.21

278.01

6.2

0.00

0.02

-0.63

-0.06

7.52

6.51

7.02

278.01

278.72

6.3

0.00

0.01

-0.63

-0.06

6.51

5.51

6.01

278.72

279.32

6.4

0.00

0.01

-0.63

-0.06

5.51

4.52

5.02

279.32

279.82

6.5

0.00

0.01

-0.62

-0.06

4.52

3.53

4.02

279.82

280.22

6.6

0.00

0.00

-0.62

-0.06

3.53

2.54

3.04

280.22

280.53

6.7

0.00

0.00

-0.62

-0.06

2.54

1.56

2.05

280.53

280.73

6.8

0.00

0.00

-0.62

-0.06

1.56

0.58

1.07

280.73

280.84

6.9

0.00

0.00

-0.62

-0.06

0.58

-0.40

0.09

280.84

280.85

0.00

0.00

-0.62

-0.06

-0.40

-1.38

-0.89

280.85

280.76

7.1

0.00

0.00

-0.62

-0.06

-1.38

-2.36

-1.87

280.76

280.57

7.2

0.00

0.00

-0.62

-0.06

-2.36

-3.35

-2.85

280.57

280.28

7.3