By Tim Van Milligan
Are you looking for some topics to present that can addexcitement to your science classroom? Rocketry and spaceexploration, like no other subject, have a way to captivatestudents that makes it easy for them to learn science. They arehaving so much fun, that they don't even realize they arelearning basic science concepts.
To leverage the benefits of this area of study, you can use yourschool's computer to explore a lot of different science topics.In the January 2005 issue of the education magazine, "TechDirections" (http://www.techdirections.com), there is an articleby Spencer C. Wilson of J.R. Fugett Middle School in WestChester. In it, he describes how he uses a rocket designsoftware, called RockSim (http://www.rocksim.com) to showstudents the process of engineering design.
In this article, I'd like to give you some other ideas on how touse the model rocket design software to demonstrate other basicscience concepts. Here are some benefits to using RockSimsoftware:
1. Allows the student to simulate hundreds of rocket flightsvery quickly -- this saves lots of money! Just think of the timesaved too. You don't have to spend hundreds of dollar buyingmotors and hours-and-hours of time building differentconfigurations, launching, recovering, and repacking rockets totest one control feature.
2. Safety. When you go out to fly rockets, knowing how they'llbehave is an important aspect of safety. Precautions can bemade. By running the simulations, the students learn whatconcepts contribute to keeping the actual launch safe.
3. The scientific value is awesome. Each launch simulationgenerates a mountain of useful data. Analyzing this data is afantastic way to teach the scientific method.
4. Students love software because it is fun! It has featureslike a video game, so the students may not realize how much theyare learning at the same time.
5. The RockSim software is the same tool that is used by realrocketry professionals - like NASA, military contractors, anduniversities. So you can feel confident in the results you getback from the program.
6. The software allows students to explore their creativity.They can design vastly different looking models, while learningengineering skills, assembly steps, and physics.
Here are just some of the many topics you can explore withRockSim:
1. Aerodynamics and drag reduction.
2. Forces of flight: Lift, Drag, Thrust, and Gravity.
3. Projectile motion.
4. Rocket propulsion as used for space travel.
5. Atmospheric studies: how does temperature and pressure affectperformance?
6. Planetary differences: how does the same rocket perform ondifferent planets in our solar system.
7. Dynamics and harmonic motion with damping.
8. Engineering - how parts fit together.
9. Newton's Laws of motion.
10. Artistic expression – because every student can design adifferent looking rocket, and change colors of the components tofurther increase the rocket's uniqueness.
11. Explaining distance, velocity, and acceleration.
12. Material properties, like density and volume.
13. The importance of weight and balance (CG position) whendesigning rockets.
14. Explaining that Work = Force X Distance.
15. Explaining the concepts of Kinetic and Potential Energy.
16. Showing free-fall, and terminal velocity.
17. The importance of units and unit conversion.
18. The importance of following directions.
19. Exporting data and using spreadsheet programs to performdata reduction and manipulation
20. To show why multi-stage and cluster motor rockets are usedin real rockets.
21. Concept of stored chemical energy (in the rocket propellant)and how it is converted to mechanical energy.
22. Concept of efficiency - getting the most performance fromthe least exertion of energy. Can be explained by the differenttypes of propellant formulations.
23. Showing the concept of momentum and how it affects theoptimum mass of the rocket.
24. Finding the optimal launch angle for breezy conditions.
25. Optimal launch angle for distance (ballistic curves), andhow it varies with the thrust curve of the motor.
26. Show how the distribution of mass affects the dynamicstability of the rocket.
27. Demonstrating the concept of "Numeric Precision" -- the moreiterations performed, the better the accuracy.
28. Show how different shaped components affects the staticstability of the rocket.
29. Compare the thrust curves of different motors. This can showhow different geometries (hole size, location, dimensions)affect the thrust produced by the rocket.
30. Concept of "Impulse:" which is a thrust force multiplied bythe time duration that thrust is created. The higher theimpulse, the more power the motor has.
As you can see, the RockSim software is a versatile tool. You'llsave hundreds of dollars because it can be used in a variety ofways.
About the author:Tim Van Milligan (B.S. Aeronautical Engineering) writes articlesabout model rocketry for the e-zine newsletter called:"Peak-of-Flight." He is also the author of the book: "ModelRocket Design and Construction," which can be found on his website: http://www.ApogeeRockets.com.
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