Aerodynamic Forces In Physics

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Intro to Rocket Science Rockets are simply a flying objects that are given a well sufficient force and power to allow them to push their masses through the air. So rockets must be designed in a way to make their mission easier in terms of going and flying through the air. This can be accomplished by reducing the air resistance against the rocket, reducing the mass of the rocket, and many other factors that we will discuss through this report. So, a wide-short rocket will experience much more drag than a tall-slim one, because air can only move out of the way of the rocket at limited speeds as well. So the rules for designing rockets are simple: Make them light, make them slim, and give them plenty of power, fairly straightforward. The main…show more content…
Factors That Affect the Aerodynamic Forces: There are many factors that affect aerodynamic forces: The Object As I mentioned before the aerodynamic forces are affected by the geometry of the rocket, the material of the rocket, the surface(its smooth or rough), and the cross sectional area of the rocket(its tall or wide rocket). But as much as we can make the aerodynamic forces smaller its better because we will need smaller thrust force to make the rocket travel more and to cover larger distances and this is a critical goal in our project. And to make the aerodynamic force smaller we must make the rocket slim, smooth. Also as the speed of the rocket doubles the drag resistance force will increase four times according to the equations. Also the fins used in the rocket and the pointed tip of the rocket plays a big role in minimizing the drag force against the rocket. Motion of the…show more content…
Center of mass The center of mass of an object is where the mass is concentrated Center of pressure The center of pressure is the point where the force applied on the rocket are concentrated. Rocket Stability The Stability in the rocket is measured according to the relative position between the center of mass and the center of pressure. The rocket as stable when the center of pressure is below the center of mass, and as the distance between them increase the stability of the rocket will increase. degree of stability is measured in calibers, which measures the distance separating the CP and CG. One caliber equals one body diameter, so if a 6-inch diameter rocket had a CP below the CG by 3 inches, it would have a stability of 0.5 calibers. Negative numbers indicate that the CP is above of the CG. The ideal amount of stability to have is something around 0.75 to 1.5 calibers. The equation that governs the stability measure is : SM=(CG-SP)/D where D is the diameter of the

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