How to Make a Homemade Rocket With a Plastic Bottle

Building a bottle rocket is a fun way for kids to learn about science.

Bottle rockets can be made with any mixture of acids and bases. The mixture of acidic and basic substances creates carbon dioxide, a gas which creates pressure within the bottle and launches your rocket. A soda and vinegar rocket is particularly easy to make and it is likely that you already have everything you need at home. Creating a platform is an important but optional step that allows the rocket to fly instead of spinning on the ground.

Things You'll Need

• Straight pole
• Large straw
• Tape
• Vinegar
• Baking soda
• Toilet paper
• Safety goggles

Instructions

1. Find a very straight stick or pole to use as a platform. Bury about six inches of the stick in the ground and stabilize it with rocks and sand. Make sure this stick is very straight and perpendicular to the ground.

2. 

   The bottle does not need to be very big.

   Tape a straw to the soda bottle's side. Use a straw with a circumference large enough to allow it to slide up and down on the stick. Make sure the straw is straight and that the straw's top is level with the bottle's mouth.

3. Put on your safety goggles. Pour one inch of vinegar into the soda bottle.

4. 

   Baking powder works too, but not as well as baking soda.

   Put a teaspoon of baking soda onto a square of thick toilet paper. Pick up the edges, twisting the toilet paper into a small sachet of baking soda.

5. Drop the baking soda sachet into the bottle.

6. 

   Be sure you're wearing safety goggles.

   Cap the bottle and shake for five to 10 seconds.

7. Slide the straw that's attached to the bottle onto the stick-platform.

8. 

   Test different combinations of vinegar and baking soda.

   Stand back --- the cap should pop off and your bottle should launch upward.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure that the bottle has no cracks and remove the bottle's label before you use it.

• Adding fins to your rocket will stabilize it in flight.

• The smaller the bottle, the better the rocket will fly.

• Loosen the cap to allow air to escape slowly from the bottle.

• Be sure to use your bottle rocket outside only, away from people, cars and houses.

• Wear safety goggles.

References

• Science Buddies: Rocketology: Baking Soda + Vinegar = Lift Off!