Ping Pong Parachute
Division: B – Middle School
NC Essential Standards Alignment: Science as Inquiry
Event Rules: See National Rules Manual
Event Score Sheet: See National Rules Manual
National Event Page: Here
Description:
Prior to the tournament, teams will design, build, and bring up to two bottle rockets to the tournament to launch a ping pong ball attached to a parachute to stay aloft for the greatest amount of time.
Rocket pressure vessels must be made from a single 1-liter or less plastic carbonated beverage bottle with a nozzle opening internal diameter of approximately 2.2 cm and a standard neck height from flange to bottle’s opening of under 1.6 cm.
The bottle label must be presented.
NC CLARIFICATIONS: we recommend Great Value walmart or Pepsi Products
Use these bottles for fit with the NCSO Launchers:
Best Bottles:
“Great Value at Walmart.
Note: the worst bottles are also at Walmart, they are the “Clear American” brand.
“Clover Valley” available at Dollar General.
“High Fee tonic water”
“Best Choice”
All “Pepsi Product” (Mountain Dew” etc)
Materials:
Type B Safety Glasses are required at all times (see National Rules Manual to see what qualifies). Teams must also provide 2 rockets, 2 unaltered ping pong balls, and 2 parachutes.
Scoring:
See National Rules Manual
Common Mistakes:
– Be sure that the pressure bottle remains intact. Repeated testing and hard landings can damage your pressure bottle. Check it frequently for scratches and weak spots that may compromise the structural integrity, and replace the bottle as needed.
– You must have a data log to show the event supervisor or you will not be able to launch you rocket.
– If you remove the label from your pressure bottle, be sure to bring it to the competition or you will not be allowed to launch the rocket.
Recommendations:
– This event only requires safety glasses, meaning the kind that look like sunglasses will work just fine. These are MUCH easier to see out of. Your local home improvement store carries cheap versions for under $4. Safety goggles (the chemical splash kind that most schools have) have a tendency to fog up, making it hard to see.
– For transporting rockets with less risk of damage, glue/screw a bottle cap to a cardboard or wood base and simply screw your rocket onto it to make it stand up. For added protection, place this entire setup inside a 5 gallon bucket to protect fins, etc.
– Angling your fins slightly to one side will cause the rocket to spiral on its way up, creating stability much like throwing a football in a spiral.
Resources
Launcher – Model Z – Indoor Model
Additional Past Resources:
FAQs
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