Use the tin foil to make a rocket with an exhaust pipe and a bulb shaped head. Use the exacto knife to shave off the colored part of the match head to then put inside the bulb part of the rocket.
Bend the paperclip into a stand to place the exhaust pipe on to then fire.
Place rocket and stand on a sheet of tin foil and light a match underneath the bulb of the rocket and watch the rocket launch.
Members can try to improve their rocket to make it go the greatest distance.
Science Behind It
In this project you use all of Newton’s Laws of Gravity. His laws are: 1. An object at rest will stay at rest unless and outside force acts upon it, 2. Force equals mass times acceleration, and 3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton’s first law applies to this project because without the force from the match head being lit, the rocket would have just stayed there. The second law can be used to improve the rocket because you would want to have the greatest amount of force so it can go a greater distance. In order to do this you have to make your rocket as light as possible and have the most amount of power. To do this this, use less tin foil and use more match heads. Newton’s third law explains the action of the rocket because the force from the fire inside of the rocket is equal to the amount of force the rocket will leave the stand at. Also, the force is coming out of the exhaust pipe and the direction the rocket moves is the exact opposite of where the force is coming out.
Tips
The rockets don’t always fire and that can be because of the rocket not being airtight, having too much weight, or there being too much friction. The best way to fix this is to keep testing different rockets. Also, it is advisable to do this with 13+ year olds and to do this away from flammable things.