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2015/08 © Hideo Nakano
nh1886@yahoo.co.jp
PAPER
TUBE ROCKET
Introduction
The paper tube rocket consists of a
tubular rocket body and a set of stabilizer fins. Teachers and students
can print out a rocket body on a sheet of 70 or 80 g/m2 A4 paper
(ordinary office paper). They can also print out sets of stabilizer
fins on the A4 office paper. After that, following the assembly
instructions they can build up paper tube rockets.
We can use rubber bands as the power
source of the launcher. The launcher consists of rubber bands which
produce 5 N thrust and two short strong plastic straw pieces.
This rocket and launcher system is simple and
safer than other rocket activities.
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A paper tube rocket
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The mass of the rocket
is 6.5 g.
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A launcher
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How to launch the rocket
1)
Make sure there is
no person and valuable items around the rocket flight direction.
2)
Hold the launcher
with your left hand then connect the end of the rubber chain of the launcher
with the hook on the rocket nose.
3)
Pinch the rocket
tail with your right thumb and index finger.
4)
Stretch your left
arm forward and stretch the rubber bands by pulling the rocket backward.
5)
Release the rocket
and watch how it flies.
Materials and tools
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Materials
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Tools
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A 4 paper, a good 5.0 - 5.5 mm in
diameter plastic straw, a strong 7.0 mm in diameter plastic straw or a
disposable chopstick + cotton string, double sided foam sticky tape 24 mm
in width, a thin shopping plastic bag, good rubber bands
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A cutting mat, a cutter, a pair of scissors,
one-hole punch, a ruler, a stapler, a glue stick, cellophane sticky tape 24
mm in width
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1. Rocket body
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Print out a paper tube rocket body.
When a dialogue box with “The margins of section 1 are set outside
the printable area of the page. Do you want to continue?” appears,
click “Yes”.
If the distance from the left edge to the line 3 is shorter than 96
mm, please do the followings.
(e.g. Word 2007) Remove the tick from the red option.
Word options > Advanced > Print > Scale content for A4 or 8.5 x 11 " paper sizes
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Start making a rocket body (a paper tube) using
good sticky tape.
An end of the paper must come on the line 3.
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You can use three strips of sticky tape to make
a tube.
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2. Stabilizer fins
Print out stabilizer fins.
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“V”s and “M”s on the template mean valley and
mountain folds respectively. After the folding, apply glue to the
shaded part (indicated by a red arrow.)
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Cut along red lines
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Your stabilizer fins are ready.
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3. How to connect the body and the fins
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Apply small amount of glue to the three spots
between lines.
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Insert your rocket body into the fin unit.
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Align “1” on the stabilizer fin unit
with “Line 1” on the body. Repeat this along “2” & “Line 2”, and
“3” & “Line 3”.
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The horizontal lines on the fin unit show where
we should use a stapler. Do not staple under the lines. Staple
on the lines or above. Using your right hand pinch the body with the
stapler and use your left thumb to press the stapler.
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Your paper tube rocket
body and fins are ready.
4. Shock absorber
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Cut a thin plastic bag and take a 24
mm x 14 cm strip.
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Cut double sided foam sticky tape into 24 mm x
100 mm like the photo above and paste the tape on to the thin plastic
strip. Trim off the thin plastic strip ends.
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Give shallow cuts to the sticker
release paper (green paper on the foam sheet) along the red lines.
Please do not cut the foam deep but give complete cuts to the paper.
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Remove two strips of the sticker release paper
like the photo above. Thick green part will be inserted in the rocket
body.
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Using the sticky end of the strip
make a cylindrical shape.
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Insert the foam cylinder into the
rocket body until the white sticky part disappears.
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Press the top of the rocket nose and
the foam to make them fix firmly.
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5. Hook
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Using a good 5.0 - 5.5 mm diameter
straw, make a 50 mm long piece.
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With a one hole-punch make a hole in
the middle of the straw.
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Cut it into two. We can make
two hooks
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Apply small amount of glue on the
“straw” mark on the rocket nose. Then place the hook on it.
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Place the hook on the “Straw” mark.
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A view from a different angle.
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Using approximately 24 mm x 6 cm
strong sticky tape, fix the hook on the rocket body.
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If you use narrower tape, the hook
might come out while it is connected to the launcher.
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Your paper tube rocket is ready.
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6. Launcher
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We need two pieces of 7 cm long
strong straws. Make a hole with the one-hole punch on one of the
pieces (the outer straw) and give a whole longitudinal cut to another piece
(the inner straw).
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Connect a rubber band to the outer
straw using the hole.
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Connect the second rubber
band. The two rubber bands in the photo produces 5 N thrust.
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Insert the inner straw into the
outer straw.
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You can use a short disposable
chopstick instead of the straws.
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When you launch the
rocket, please make sure there is no person and valuable items around the
rocket flight direction.
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7. The role of the stabilizer fins
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Figure 1
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Figure 1 shows a paper tube rocket
without the stabilizer fins does not fly straight.
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Figure 2
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The centre of gravity of the paper
tube rocket exists inside of the tube. It is inside between “E” and
“C” like figure 2.
When the rocket tilts, the centre of
gravity works like an axis of a wheel.
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Figure 3
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If the rocket tilts like figure 3,
the upper fin has much air resistance and the lower fin has less air
resistance. Therefore the rocket starts rotating upward to adjust the
flying direction (pitching adjustment).
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Figure 4
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If the rocket tilts like figure 4,
the lower fin has much air resistance. Then the rocket starts
rotating downward.
While the paper tube rocket is
flying in the air, “figure 3 - figure 4” adjustment occurs to the rocket
continuously around three axes.
This is the role of the stabilizer
fins.
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