Introduction to SimRocket
Introduction to SimRocket
Please be patient. It takes a minute for the rocket simulation program to load. Click here to adjust your monitor. Read these instructions meanwhile:
SimRocket comes with 8 rockets:
Rocket1 with big
bertha engine, rounded nose cone,
3 fins and sanded body.
Rocket2 with big
bertha engine, pointed nose cone, 3 fins and sanded body.
Rocket3 with astro
alpha engine, rounded nose cone, 3
fins and sanded body.
Rocket4 with astro
alpha engine, rounded nose cone, 4 fins and sanded body.
Rocket5 with crazy
quasar engine, rounded nose cone,
3 fins and sanded body.
Rocket6 with crazy
quasar engine, rounded nose cone,
3 fins and painted
body.
Rocket7 with giant
gamma engine, rounded nose cone, 3
fins and sanded body.
Rocket8 with giant
gamma engine, pointed nose cone, 4 fins and painted
body.
Note that the rockets use four different engines. Each engine has a different thrust power and the engine provides this thrust for a different length of time. So the rockets go to different heights. You can launch each rocket and see how high it goes.
Also, note that some rockets have a pointed nose cone instead of a rounded one. Some have 4 fins instead of 3. Some have a painted body instead of a sanded one. These are small differences, but they change the air resistance and slow down the rocket by different amounts. Can you figure out how much each of these differences in the design affects how high the rocket goes?
Warning! Each time a rocket goes up the weather conditions are a little different. That means, each time the rocket will go up to a slightly different height. If the heights are always different, how can you compare two rockets? How could you figure out what the average height is for a rocket?
When SimRocket starts, Rocket1 is on the
launchpad. Click on the Start button below the simulation. The
engine will fire and the rocket will rise. Watch the 
. When the rocket
is at its highest point and before the counter starts to
decrease, write down the highest number that appeared on the
counter. That is the exact height that the rocket reached.
To launch another rocket, make sure that the "pencil tool" on the side of the sky is selected -- if it is not, then click on it. Now go to the top and click on the rocket you want. Then click once right above the ground. The rocket will appear there. If the simulation is started, the rocket will take off. You can start and stop the simulation at any time with the Start and Stop buttons at the bottom.
Click here for information about rockets.
SimRocket is a project of the Articulate Learner Project at the Center for LifeLong Learning & Design at the University of Colorado. The SimRocket java applet was automatically generated with RistrettoTM, Version 1.4a2, the agent-to-Java-byte-code compiler. Ristretto is trademarked by Agentsheets Inc.