Fizzy bottle rockets

Make self-propelled rockets out of juice bottles, and learn how a chemical reaction which produces gas can be used to propel a rocket.

a small fruit juice bottle is being propelled out of a glass jar by a white jet of liquid as a young boy looks on
A bottle rocket in action, Image credit: The Royal Institution

Aims

Make a self-propelled rocket from a juice bottle.

ExpeRiment with the ‘fuel’ for the rocket.

Learn how a chemical reaction which produces gas can be used to propel a rocket.

About this activity

Danielle and Michael make explosive rockets fly with the children at an adventure playground. By putting fizzy headache/vitamin tablets into a bottle with a sports cap, they make incredible bottle missiles. As gas builds up inside the bottle, pressure increases until the lid pops. When this happens, the lid pushes against the ground, pushing the bottle upwards. The liquid firing out of the bottle pushes it further, just like the gases coming out of a real rocket.

You can do this free science activity at home with just some bottles and fizzy headache/vitamin tablets. Experiment with different types of tablets, different bottle shapes, and the temperature of the water.

This activity was filmed at the Waterside Adventure Playground in Islington.

The Royal Institution is closed 19 March

The Ri is closed this week on Tuesday 19 March.