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Hydrodynamics of a Water Rocket

Article in SIAM Review · May 2000

DOI: 10.1137/S0036144598348223

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 SIAM REVIEW c 2000 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
!
Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 719–726

Hydrodynamics of a Water
Downloaded 05/14/13 to 98.77.195.153. Redistribution subject to SIAM license or copyright; see http://www.siam.org/journals/ojsa.php

Rocket∗
Joseph M. Prusa†

Abstract. Applications of mass, momentum, and energy balances are central to the teaching of fluid
dynamics. In this study, a model to determine the trajectory of a water rocket is given
that is far simpler than the system of coupled partial differential equations that typically
results in modern hydrodynamic problems of interest. This makes the problem an excellent
choice for a student project—it can reasonably be completed with a day or two of effort.
In addition to the fundamental mathematics, this problem offers opportunities in scale
analysis, numerical methods for IVPs, balance principles in accelerated frames of reference,
and the collection and assessment of flight test data.

Key words. hydrodynamics, predictor-corrector, nonlinear integral equation, rocket thrust, adiabatic
expansion, noninertial frame

AMS subject classifications. 65-01, 65L05, 65L12, 65L80, 76-01, 80-01

PII. S0036144598348223

1. Introduction. Many of us have enjoyed playing with a toy water rocket (Fig-
ure 1). The basic principle of operation is to expel a jet of water from the rocket
nozzle using compressed air. After a volume of water has been poured into the inte-
rior chamber of the rocket, it is mounted on a hand pump and the chamber contents
are compressed to several times atmospheric pressure. In a classic example of engi-
neering elegance, when the rocket is pointed upwards for launch, gravity naturally
stratifies the contents of the rocket so that the air cannot escape until it pushes all of
the water out of the interior chamber. In this manner the stored energy of the air is
efficiently transformed into kinetic energy of the exiting water jet. This jet provides
sufficient thrust to propel the rocket to astonishing heights. A few trial launches
quickly confirm that maximum heights are achieved with an intermediate volume of
water. Due to its low density, the thrust provided by air alone is negligible, and in a
launch without water, the rocket is barely able to lift off of the air pump seal. The
other extreme consists of completely filling the chamber with water. In this case, the
chamber cannot be pressurized since water is incompressible; consequently there is no
stored energy to turn into kinetic energy.
Detailed predictions of the rocket trajectory are possible using a model based
upon hydrodynamic principles. But what is remarkable is that because the design so
efficiently transforms stored energy into thrust, the model can be simple enough to
use as a project or take-home quiz in fluid dynamics at the advanced undergraduate
or beginning graduate level. When coupled with actual flight test data, where the

∗ Received by the editors November 30, 1998; accepted for publication (in revised form) May 2,

2000; published electronically October 30, 2000.

http://www.siam.org/journals/sirev/42-4/34822.html
† Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010 (prusa@

iastate.edu).
719

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