Test tube rocket

How to make a rocket at home

Check out the quick­est way to make a rock­et with this ex­per­i­ment!

Safe­ty pre­cau­tions

Warn­ing! Only un­der adult su­per­vi­sion

Equip­ment

  • test tube with cork;
  • bak­ing soda;
  • cit­ric acid;
  • wa­ter;
  • nap­kin.

Step-by-step in­struc­tions

Mix some bak­ing soda and cit­ric acid in a nap­kin. Care­ful­ly twist the nap­kin to en­cap­su­late the mix­ture and cut off the ex­cess. This will serve as your rock­et fuel! In­sert the fuel into a test tube with wa­ter and cork the tube tight­ly. Turn the tube up­side down and be­gin the count­down!

Process de­scrip­tion

When dis­solved in wa­ter, bak­ing soda and cit­ric acid re­act with each oth­er to re­lease a large quan­ti­ty of car­bon diox­ide. This process caus­es the pres­sure in­side the closed tube to in­crease, which forces the cork out and launch­es the tube like a rock­et.

This and oth­er safe home ex­per­i­ments are wait­ing for you in the MEL Chem­istry sub­scrip­tion!

Try it