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Grade Levels: 4-6 (Note: This experiment can be simplified or made more challenging depending on the developmental levels of your students. See Teacher Information.)
Description: Newton's Third Law of Motion states that every action creates an equal but opposite reaction. Students will get an opportunity to observe this when high-pressure air forces water to leave a capsule in turn causing the capsule to accelerate in the opposite direction.
Approximate Time Involved: This investigation will take at least one class period of about 40 minutes. Teachers or students may chose to repeat this investigation or use one class period to draw a hypothesis and collect data. Then use a second class period to draw conclusions and brainstorm alternative proceedures.
Newton's Third Law of Motion states that every action creates an equal and opposite reaction. Students will get an opportunity to observe this when high-pressure air forces water to leave a capsule in turn causing the capsule to accelerate in the opposite direction.
This should become a team exercise where your student groups might each develop and write a hypothesis, list the materials they would use (One or two liter bottles with the thin neck, air pumps, corks, air hoses, and launch pads), the number of each item, and a procedure. An excellent way to assess this activity is to have the teams repeat each other's experiment to see if they achieve the same results. This will also replicate the real world challenges facing a research scientist.
Needed Materials: 4 two-liter soda or water bottles (must have a narrow opening), 1-4 bicycle pumps with pressure gauge), protective goggles, mass scale, metric graduated cylinder, stop watch, permanent marker, open field
If making your own launching device you will also need four rubber stoppers that fit snuggly into the bottle opening, 4 pump-needles that are used to fill a ball with air, a drill, plastic bucket.
Note: Teachers can purchase devices that come with a valve, hose and cork to launch soda bottles from school supply catalogs. Possible sites are www.nascofa.com and www.delta-education.com or www.nerdsinc.com (Basic Launch Pad $35; delivery 7-10 days)
Safety Rules: You can avoid injury by requiring students to wear eye protection and setting a perimeter (10ft recommended) around each launch site. Bottles should be cleaned thoroughly before use.
Student Information: Prepare to get wet! When the water is under pressure, the stopper may leak if it isn't in properly and the group may be sprayed with water. The following information should be used when setting up your Action/Reaction Rocket Investigation. For store bought devices, read the directions carefully that came with the launching device. Insert the rubber cork per instructions, then place your rocket in the center of the launch area. (A launch area of a three meter radius (or six meter diameter) should be set by your group to ensure that no student gets in the path of your rocket.) If you desire, you can build a launch pad by inserting a dowel (or broom stick) next to you rocket and bending a wire hanger around the rocket to ensure that it stands up.
Below is a list of questions that can be used to stimulate student discussions. If your students are at a developmental level where you are able to challenge their higher level thinking skills, then only present them with the first set of questions from each group below. Use the second list of questions as a way to stimulate thinking when you students seem unable to expand their knowledge on their own.
Teacher Information:
Here is an opportunity for your students, especially those at late high school, to present and defend their Action/Reaction Rocket results to a professional in the field:
Dr. Elaine AbuSharbain, Science Educator at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, has agreed to review any student designed experiments and their results, conclusions, inferences, and recommendations. Elaine's Email Address is: eabusha@siue.edu
Challenging Your Students to Be Problem Solvers:
To make this experiment more challenging to your students, you might just want to pose a question such as: What changes can be made to our rocket that will allow it to travel faster? …further? Will the amount of air pressure effect the height and speed of travel? Will the size of the bottle make a difference?
Student Instructions Available to download as a PDF file.
Procedure:
Procedural Steps for Conducting the Investigation
Examining Local Results
Discussion Questions that Require More Critical Thinking Skills:
Discussion Questions that Require Less Critical Thinking Skills
Examining Local and Online Results
Discussion Questions That Will Require Critical Thinking Skills to Compare Local Data to the Online Data of Others
General Discussion Questions that May Occur as a Result of Comparing Local Data to the Online Data of Others
Links to
Action vs Reaction
Newton's Laws of Motion Explains Newton's three laws of motion.
Newton's Laws: Three Sample Passages This site provides an interesting article that explains Newton's laws of motion.
Sporting with Newton Here is another activity that involves using the internet and sports to learn about Newton's laws.
Forces and Motion Learn about the concepts of aeronautics through these activities.
Aviation Now Check out this site for article about space rockets.
Newton's Laws of Motion Here is another site that describes Newton's laws as well as gives more activities to try.
Newton Car Here is one more activity that you might want to try.
The Water Rocket Playground Enjoy pictures, illustrations, experiments, and info about water rockets.
Rocket Page Design a two-liter water bottle with an egg payload.
Rockets Away Design and launch a water bottle rocket on-line.
More links to Schoolyard Habitat Information
Schoolyard Habitat Links Learn more about developing and maintaining schoolyard and backyard habitats by visiting these links.
Copyright, 2005
by Prism Press
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