Predict before launch
“My initial thrust-to-weight ratio is __. Explain whether this rocket should lift off using F = ma. Ask me a question before giving the answer.”
AEROSPACE EXPLAINED FOR TEENS · COMPANION LAB 01
Upward Virtual rocket lab
Make a prediction. Change one variable. Test it against the flight data.
A teaching simulation, not hardware design. Fictional parts, vertical flight only. Reaching a high altitude is not entering orbit. Do not use these results to build or launch real rockets.
1. Build your experiment
Initial thrust / weight 0
Reset keeps your choices and clears the flight. Controls lock after launch. Step advances a paused flight by exactly one simulated second.
2. Observe the same physics
Altitude0 m
Vertical velocity0 m/s
Total mass0 kg
Propellant left0 kg
Thrust0 N
Elapsed time0 s
Altitude diagram rescales as you climb. The teal dot and guide mark altitude; rocket size is symbolic. Signed velocity is positive upward and negative downward.
Peak altitude so far 0 m
3. Ask an AI tutor, then check its answer
One variable at a time
“I changed only payload from __ kg to __ kg. Peak altitude changed from __ m to __ m. Help me explain why. Do not invent missing measurements.”
Challenge the model
“Why can thrust be zero while a rocket still moves upward? Which assumptions in this vertical model would fail for an orbital mission?”
No AI connection is built in. Copy a prompt into a tool you are permitted to use, without personal information. Treat its answer as a claim to test.
Model assumptions and equations
Upward is positive. Acceleration = thrust / total mass − gravity − signed drag / total mass. Drag = ½ρCdAv|v|. Density = 1.225 exp(−h/8500) kg/m³. Cd = 0.45, A = 0.7 m². Gravity = 9.80665 [6371000 / (6371000 + h)]² m/s². Propellant decreases at the selected engine's constant mass flow rate, until empty. Structure is 100 kg plus payload, engine and empty tank.
A fixed 0.02 s midpoint integration step splits at propellant exhaustion. Engine thrust is constant while burning. No wind, heating, steering, staging, parachutes, rotation or horizontal motion. Ground contact ends the flight without simulating an impact. Initial thrust must exceed weight to launch; pad burns are deliberately blocked. Flights stop at 600 simulated seconds if still airborne.