Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Does the ratio of baking soda and vinegar mixed together affect the launch height of a plastic water bottle?

CorinthiaAiken - I think your question is a very good hypothesis for a project. What was the hypothesis you were basing your experiment on? In that you are now analyzing your data, does your result support or negate your original project goal? There is an optimum ratio of vinegar to baking soda that exactly balances the reaction so that acidity and base neutralize each other, but I have a feeling that an excess of vinegar will produce a higher launch height. I might be wrong, but I'll let you try to figure out why that is. Keep us informed.

Rick Marz

Did you have an additional question, Corinthia?

i have no idea what all those big words mean please explain in simpler terms. thank u

In order to clearly communicate, scientists and engineers use a lot of technical words with specific meanings. A good dictionary is something you should get familar with using and you will learn a lot by figuring out the meanings of words on your own.

In order to understand what a Science Fair project involves, you really need to read and understand The Scientific Method article on this site yourself.
hypothesis, experiment, analyzing, data, result, prove, disprove are words that are covered in The Scientific Method. If after reading that article, you don't understand something, post back a specific question and we will be glad to help.

Rick used some words that were beyond a 6-8 grade vocabulary:
"support" in his context translate to "help prove", "negate" => "help disprove"
"optimum ratio" => "ratio of baking soda and vinegar that produces the most launch height"

For the experiment you chose (an acid base chemical reaction), you really need to learn the following terms:
acid, base, pH (a measure of how acidic or basic something is), chemical reaction, gas, pressure, force - you need to look these up yourself

Mixing an "acid" (vinegar) and a "base" (baking soda) results in a chemical reaction that "neutralizes" (cancels out the acidic and basic properts and produces neutral things: water, salt, gas). In your case, the chemical reaction produces (yields) a gas that in the sealed space that builds up pressure until there is enough force to separate the "rocket" from whatever is holding it down.

Hope this helps get you started toward understanding some of the vocabulary needed.

i hope u dont expect me 2 read all of that shorter reply & smaller words

CorinthiaAiken wrote:i have no idea what all those big words mean please explain in simpler terms. thank u

Craig_Bridge did explain in concise, simpler terms, so maybe you could tell us what exactly still seems confusing. If you're unfamiliar with the terms that he used, you should keep in mind that projects are supposed to be learning experiences! You make hypotheses, learn vocabulary and concepts that you didn't know before, and try to explain phenomena and errors in your words. Some things may seem difficult at first, but as long as you put effort into your work and try to understand, the results will surely be worth it!

CorinthiaAiken,

In case you were still performing your experiment I wanted to post a reply...it sounds much like one on the Science Buddies Project Ideas site at the following link:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p086.shtml

Is this the one you are working? If not, it seems like you are/were still confused by some of the terminology being used and this link provides some very good experiment proceedures to guide you through as well as some suggested resources and vocabulary to know and understand to help you on your way.

In a nutshell...yes, the amount and ratio of fuel (baking soda and vinigar) will affect the launch height of your vehicle. It is up to you to perform the experiment to find out what the optimum ratio is and what effect it has on rocket flight performance. This is a clear case of more isn't necessarily better. A similar experiment can be accomplished using an air and water bottle rockets to illustrate the concept at hand. I just finished demonstrating this concept to a group of elementary grade students and was able to get an impressive 40 to 50 foot vertical flight with air/water combo vs a meager 10-15 feet using air alone.

Please post back and let us know if you were able to successfully complete your project.