How to design a competition Water Rocket



Our team was recently asked to assist some  students participating in a water rocket distance competition held by their school. We had never done any experiments in achieving maximum distance, so we were excited by the prospect of applying our experience in setting world records for altitude, as well as the chance to work with students in the STEM field.

 

We have published the first episode of our documentary series that covers our experience in this project. In this introductory episode, we jump right into analysis of the competition rules and our thoughts on designing the perfect water rocket for this competition.

 

The video begins with a history of our involvement in the competition, and how we became involved, and then outlines all of the rules for the competition which we had to comply with. The video concludes with a rough design for the ideal rocket, and a test plan for the design which will fine tune the rocket to maximize the performance.

 

Check out the video, and let us know what you think in the comments section of the video.



Free 3D Printable Soda Bottle Adapters

Many people have discovered that 2 liter soda bottles can be used to store compressed air and used in places where "canned air" is typically used. Dusting electronics and airbrushing are just some of the uses people have used homemade soda bottle air tanks for. Some of the more inventive people out there have created arrays of soda bottles to increase their tank capacity. Some of these people have even realized that they can increase the volume of their individual air tanks by joining multiple bottles together using our bottle splicing technique.

 

The usual method for making an air tank involves drilling holes in the bottle caps and then attaching a rubber hose fitting to the hole. This technique is time consuming and can leak air. Fortunately, people wishing to find a better way to do this have another option: the U.S. Water Rockets Soda Bottle to 3/8" NPT Pipe Adapter!

 

These adapters were created so that we could more easily pressure test our water rockets or for burst testing of bottles, and we still use them for this purpose. But these adapters are a great solution for making a soda bottle compressed air tank farm! You can use them for either of these purposes, and probably a lot more functions that we have not even thought of!

 

The files and instructions are available for download on our Thingiverse page. Enjoy!

 

 

Learn how to paint your water rockets and get professional looking results!

This week's video demonstrates a Water Rocket painting technique we have developed and tested for some time, and it has proven to give excellent results. This technique is very simple, and produces a finish that is as smooth and glossy as glass, without any buffing or polishing at all. Best of all, it's incredibly easy for anyone to get these results.

 

Not only does this method produce a great finish, it also is much more durable and will not scratch off from repeated use, nor will it peel away if you apply tape to the rocket. It is so tough, that you can paint the entire rocket, including the pressurized parts, and not even the pressure will affect it!

 

Check out the new video, and leave us a comment to let us know what you think!

 

 

Stay tuned for more exciting videos by subscribing to our channel. We have wrapped some really fascinating projects up, and will be publishing the results very soon!