In this lab, my partner Garrett and I made a small rocket engine using table sugar and potassium nitrate. We covered a lot during the lab regarding chemical reactions and I felt like making the small engine helped me visualize what I was learning on the board.
The goal of the lab was to take a little amount of solid, and turn it into a lot of gas. We did this by taking the glucose, fructose (table sugar) and the potassium nitrate and adding energy to it. By doing this, we created an exothermic reaction, which gave off a lot of heat and energy pushing out motor into the sky. The solids turned into gasses, which takes up more space (as seen in the hydrogen lab) and we were left with, Potassium carbonate, Co2, and chemical nitrate pushing themselves straight out of the bottom giving us lift.
We measured out our substances using stoichiometry which was basically transferring moles to grams. For the potassium nitrate, the amount to use we were given was, 48kno3 and we needed to transfer that into grams. What we then did was take the atomic weight of each element on there, 31K, 14N, 16O3 so 48O = 93. Then we multiplied that by 48 to get 4,464g. If we repeat the process with the table sugar, we end up with 1710g. Instead of having to use so many grams to make a small rocket, we added the two numbers together and found the percentage of each substance. 1710+4464= 6174 / 1710= 36% sugar and 6174/4464= 74% potassium nitrate.
Reflection
This experiment was a great success for my partner Garrett and I. Our rocket was one of the highest ones to go off. It even almost set the school on fire! But we can save that for another day. To get better results, I think we could have packed more fuel into the rocket. The rocket had great initial lift but burned out pretty quick after it left the ground. I am definitely thinking about how I can use this information I learned for my next rocket build. I will need to make my own motor from scratch and this has given me some good ideas about what methods I can pursue.
The goal of the lab was to take a little amount of solid, and turn it into a lot of gas. We did this by taking the glucose, fructose (table sugar) and the potassium nitrate and adding energy to it. By doing this, we created an exothermic reaction, which gave off a lot of heat and energy pushing out motor into the sky. The solids turned into gasses, which takes up more space (as seen in the hydrogen lab) and we were left with, Potassium carbonate, Co2, and chemical nitrate pushing themselves straight out of the bottom giving us lift.
We measured out our substances using stoichiometry which was basically transferring moles to grams. For the potassium nitrate, the amount to use we were given was, 48kno3 and we needed to transfer that into grams. What we then did was take the atomic weight of each element on there, 31K, 14N, 16O3 so 48O = 93. Then we multiplied that by 48 to get 4,464g. If we repeat the process with the table sugar, we end up with 1710g. Instead of having to use so many grams to make a small rocket, we added the two numbers together and found the percentage of each substance. 1710+4464= 6174 / 1710= 36% sugar and 6174/4464= 74% potassium nitrate.
Reflection
This experiment was a great success for my partner Garrett and I. Our rocket was one of the highest ones to go off. It even almost set the school on fire! But we can save that for another day. To get better results, I think we could have packed more fuel into the rocket. The rocket had great initial lift but burned out pretty quick after it left the ground. I am definitely thinking about how I can use this information I learned for my next rocket build. I will need to make my own motor from scratch and this has given me some good ideas about what methods I can pursue.