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Aerospace Unit Conceptual Physics: Water Bottle Rocket

As part of the aerospace unit, we had to create a water bottle rocket that we could use to test a variable like the size of the fins or the size of the nosecone. My group did not test a variable but instead had a design challenge to create a system that would deploy a parachute out of the nosecone, without putting any holes in the bottle. If you have any holes in the bottle, the rocket blows up on the launch pad. We created a system where when the nosecone pops off, a sting that attaches it to the rocket pops the parachute out. The other half is that there is a small weight in the end of the parachute that pulls the parachute out its full length, then drops out so it doesn't pull down the parachute. This project displayed communication because my group had to communicate quite a bit to come up with a two part system that would actually deploy the parachute each time. We spent three weeks worth of lunches communicating, trying to find a way to get the parachute to work.

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