Working Water Rocket Toy! - See GIF

Update:

I have a design for a V2 that will be a little more polished, have a cool landing pad to aim for and a couple of other fun add-ons. If you'd like me to publish it when it's ready, please give this design a boost so I know it's something you all would want.

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A simple but fun little toy to print on a slow day or for your kids!  (It's also a secretly educational toy as they'll wonder what causes the rocket to rise and fall!)  

How to use:

1. Print (Ideally, try to use the provided profile with a tuned profile for such small pieces)
2. Place the printed rocket into a bottle of water
3. Screw the lid on tightly

4. Squeeze!! 

    

The rocket will start to sink to the bottom of the bottle, and to make it rise back up, simply release the bottle! 

 

Boost MeWant an upgraded version with a launching pad, more designs or something else? Give me a boost and leave a comment so I know! 

 

 

 

How it works: 

When you squeeze the bottle, the air bubble inside the rocket compresses (gets smaller), so the air volume of the rocket decreases, and so does the buoyant force. The rocket becomes more dense than the water around it, and the gravitational pull pulls it down! The total opposite happens when you release the bottle, which is why it rises back up! 

 

Troubleshooting:

If you find it very hard to make the bottle descend:

1. Make sure the bottle is filled up quite high; too much air will make it harder to lower the rocket
2. Tap the bottle a few times, you may have a few too many air bubbles stuck around the print

The Rocket won't come back up?

1. This can happen if the rocket was jostled around a little to much and water got inside the chamber. Simply pour out the water, blow through the holes of the rocket to clear the water out and pop it back into the bottle! (It's worth printing 2 so one can also dry out while the other is in use!) 
2. Squeeze the bottle a little while the lid is unscrewed and then tighten the lid. This will make the bottle want to expand and create even more air volume in the rocket.