"National Engineers Week"

ASME Bottle Rocket Exhibition

Brought to you by

The University of Vermont

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences


Objective:

To design, construct and test a rocket using pressurized air and water for propulsion. It must be built around a two-liter plastic soda bottle.

 

Criteria:

  • Time will be measured with a stopwatch through the rocket's entire trajectory. Parachute rockets will be in a category separate from non-parachute types.
  • A 0.5-second confidence range will be added for each press of the button, making the total range of measurements ±1.0 sec.
  • Entries of overlapping temporal confidence ranges, (i.e., ties) will be launched, timed, and compared again.

Rules:

  • The neck of the bottle must remain intact and unaltered, because we the flange and mouth are used to hold the rocket during pressurization.
  • The rocket will be launched using a launching rod that is inserted into the bottle through the throat, so don't mess with the inside of the bottle either.
  • Air and water pressure will not exceed 50 psig. We provide the compressed air. You measure out the amount of water you want.
  • Rockets will be launched as closely to the vertical as can be arranged.
  • Any fins or other attachments must not extend lower than 1.5 inches from the mouth, so that we can fit it in our launcher.
  • No glass

Registration:

  • Preregistration is required. Preregister with Dawn Densmore or register on line.
  • Two to four students per team.

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