I’m from a planet on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy. I made my own spaceship to come to Earth. To demonstrate my skills to the other professors at Zoober Labs, I made this tiny rocket out of a film canister. While this toy rocket isn’t powerful enough to reach escape velocity and go into orbit, it might go higher than your house.
If you don’t have any empty film canisters at home, ask for some at a nearby photo processing shop; these places have plenty of extras that they will usually give you for free.
Materials
Plastic 35mm film canister with cap
Acrylic paints
Construction paper (optional)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cotton ball
1 teaspoon baking soda
Tools
Paintbrush
Scissors (optional)
Tape (optional)
Measuring spoons
1 Decorate the film canister with paint. You can cut out a nose cone and paper fins with construction paper and tape them to the rocket if you wish.
2 GO OUTSIDE. Pour the vinegar into the film canister. Carefully push a cotton ball into the canister, making sure not to let the top of the ball get soaked.
3 Put the baking soda on top of the cotton ball, then quickly snap the cap on the film canister. Put the rocket, cap-side-down, on a flat surface and get away.
HOW IT WORKS: The baking soda and vinegar mixture produces carbon dioxide [CO2] gas. (The cotton ball prevents them from mixing too quickly.) The gas builds up in the canister until the pressure is high enough to pop the cap off and propel the rocket into the sky.
