2. Inflate Your Balloon to the Diameter Specified by Your Teacher

Science 6 Class Set - Directions Rocket Engines Essential Questions Vocabulary Objectives 1. How are force and motion force, unbalanced force, 1. Identify and describe the changes in position, direction, and related? balanced force, motion, speed of an object when acted upon by unbalanced forces. speed 2. Identify balanced and unbalanced forces.

Introduction: What would happen if you stood still whiles wearing skates and threw baseballs away from you? Would you move? How about if you sat on a skateboard and did the same thing?

Objective: A law of physics says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that if you push someone away from you, you are pushed backwards with the same force you exerted. In the same manner, if a rocket’s exhaust exerts 150 Newtons of force against a concrete launch pad, the same force is exerted on the rocket. This is what causes the rocket to be lifted into the air. In this activity, we will investigate the reaction using a balloon as the engine and a straw as the rocket. We will be careful to change only the one item whose effect we will observe. This is called the independent variable. All other conditions must be kept completely identical. These conditions are called constants.

Procedure: 1. Attach your flight string to the wall opposite from where you will stand, and pull the string out level from where it is attached. String should be 4-6 meters long. 2. Inflate your balloon to the diameter specified by your teacher. 3. Twist and hold the balloon closed. Do not tie it. 4. Attach the balloon to the straw, twisted end towards you and the top toward the wall. 5. Facing the string attachment, hold the flight string level near its free end. 6. Start the straw at the mark on the string. 7. Release the rocket (balloon) and allow it to fly down the string. 8. Holding the string level, measure the distance traveled by the rocket. 9. Repeat steps 1-8 twice more for this diameter and record the data in the chart. Name ______Date ______Period ______

Rocket Engines Lab Response Paper

1. State the problem: ______

2. Form a hypothesis:

3. Record data

Balloon Diameter Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Total Average

E. Graph your results

4. Conclusion: RERUN

______

Questions : 1. What is the independent variable in this experiment?

2. Name three constants for this experiment: A. B. C. 3. What did you discover about unbalanced forces?

______4. In the space below, draw a situation when you were acted on by unbalanced forces. Be sure to identify/label the forces.