Model Forum / General / Rockets / January 2006

No need to fake the data. Download the test version of Rocksim and build the
rockets in the sim program. Program in your launch data and fly them in
simulation.  www.apogee.com has the program.

Faking the data is a pretty sorry example to set for your son.  Do you
think he's a Korean stem cell researcher or something like that?

Either report the missing rockets (which ought to be a legitimate
outcome) or build new rockets.  But don't fake data.

There's a word for that sort of behavior: FRAUD.

Bill Sullivan

Rule #1: Don't fake any data.

Part of conducting an experiment is to try to explain the reason for an
outcome whether you predicted it or not.  Why did you lose the rocket? was
it because of the flight characteristics from the combination of the wind
and the fin angle?  Did the rocket wind cock like it should have if you set
the launch angle as close to zero as possible, or did it fly higher and more
straight because of the spin from the fin cantor?  From what is he basing
his initial theory of the behavior of the rocket? Stines book?  Those are
the things that you need to explain.  It's still a valid experiment.  Didn't
you observe the take off or video tape it?  How did you measure the
altitude?  Did you use the Estes altitude tool?

Gates son did an experiment very similar to this that won him the California
State Science Fair.  His experment was the effect of spin on altitude if I
remember correctly.  HIs didn't go as expected either and he lost one of his
or it core sampled or something if I remember, but that was all put in his
results too.  He had a link to his paper a long time ago and it was very
impressive.  Maybe Erik can upload it again for everyone to see.

I'm still trying to teach my son the proper way to write a lab report.
Showing him my college lab books only gets him so far.  I see the most
difficult part for kids is they don't know how to describe results
effectively or completely.

Good luck

-Booms