Make a Rocket Out of Vinegar and Baking Soda

Tap to Read ➤ Rutuja Jathar

All parents do their best to create fun activities for their young children during the weekends. If mothers like to educate the kids with baking cookies, the fathers like to smuggle the baking soda from the kitchen and make a rocket out of it. Yes, a rocket! Let's see how it's done and have some fun.

Kids as well as adults are always fascinated with rockets. Most children pester their parents to buy a rocket from the toy store to feel like a real astronaut. Instead, you can make one at home as baking soda and vinegar rocket are easy to make and can also be used as a science fair project.

Along with being easily accessible, both vinegar and baking soda are safe products that children can handle without any risk of injury.

The Making of a Rocket

Here are a few simple steps to do this. The first few times, this should be monitored by the parents to set a basic guideline for the children before they start making these by themselves.

Material Required

An empty film canister Construction paper of the desired color Vinegar Baking soda Glue tape A pair of scissors

Steps

Roll the construction paper around the empty film canister in order to form a long tube. Make sure that the lid of the canister is at the bottom of the construction paper roll and then secure the roll with the help of the glue tape. Cut a circle of the construction paper in order to make a cone which will serve as the top of your rocket.

Cut a slit into that circle and fold it in shape of a cone and secure it with the tape at the top of your rocket. It is important to stabilize the rocket, and so add four tail fins to the base. The model is ready.

Launching the Rocket

Safety First

Do remember to launch the rocket only in an open ground. Do not ever point the rocket towards any person, car or building. Also ensure that nobody has their face near the head of the rocket at the time of the launch.

Steps to Launch

Take off the lid of the film canister and put a small amount of baking soda and vinegar in it. Close the lid as quickly as possible and place the rocket on the ground with its nose side facing up. Move a little away from the range of the rocket and see your mean machine take off!

Tip

You can also use an empty soda bottle instead of the film canister. Once you learn how to make these, you can experiment with multiple ingredients like plain lemon juice and other types of vinegar like white, balsamic and apple cider vinegar and measure the difference depending on the performance of the rocket.

Did You Know?

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate and vinegar is acetic acid. When sodium bicarbonate is mixed with acetic acid, it further breaks down and vinegar which is mixed with water, bubbles out and causes the immediate reaction to form foam, which tries to escape, thus causing the rocket to take off.

Doesn't this sound fun? If you are still not sure about making one, you can buy one of the baking soda and vinegar rocket kits that are available in the market and observe how it is made and then make one yourself.