Engage Design a rocket around a plastic 2 liter soda bottle that stays in the air the longest possible time (proxy for how high an altitude it can achieve).
Explain High school students can document their abilities with the following concepts: inertia, gravity, air resistance, Newton's laws of motion, acceleration, relationships between work and energy or impulse and momentum, projectile motion, freefall calculations, internal and external ballistics, and the practice of true engineering.
NASA's Guide to Bottle Rockets
The rocket is made from a 2-liter soda bottle. Before launch, the bottle is filled with some amount of water, which acts as the "propellant" for the launch. Since water is about 100 times heavier than air, the expelled water produces more thrust than compressed air alone. The base of the bottle is only slightly larger than the launch tube. When the rocket is placed on the launch tube, the body tube becomes a closed pressure vessel. The pressure inside the body tube equals the pressure produced by the air pump. Fins are attached to the bottom of the body tube to provide stability during the flight.
Explore 1. The rocket must be constructed using a standard plastic 2L soda bottle.
2. The only adhesive permitted in construction is low-temp glue (using a low-temp glue gun).
Note: Use of a hot-melt glue gun will result in a deterioration of the bottle and possible rupture of the bottle upon pressurization.
Evaluate 1. The rocket must stay intact during the entire flight; no parts can fall off or separate during flight.
2. Rockets should be tested at low pressure (70 psi or less) before the competition.
Water Bottle Rocketry Winner Entry
Congratulations! 
Extend • Include a payload of an “egg-stronaut” - a raw, large, Grade A chicken egg. Design a hydro rocket to safely return the egg-stronaut to Earth.
• Design a hydro rocket to land closest to a target area.
• Assign dollar amounts to supplies (bottles, glue, fin material, parachutes) and judge the rocket on cost efficiency (cost per second of hang time).
But keep working on your MTV!
