In order to test which cone shape worked best to reduce drag and offer more stability for his rocket, Doty first had to build his own wind tunnel. “I needed to do this in order to measure deflection and stability while controlling the amount and direction of the wind,” he said. This was necessary to obtain consistent results. By controlling the testing environment, he could avoid getting too much variation and inconsistency in his results.
Doty constructed his wind tunnel using ordinary household objects including a lamp shade, stove pipe, cardboard box, duct tape and two industrial-sized fans. His experiment for each cone shape was repeated as many as 30 times to obtain consistent measurements. He then averaged the results to determine which shape worked best. “I found the pointier nose cones had less drag and more stability. The cone was the second best shape, but an ellipse shape proved best.”
Since participants must be in 5th grade or higher to advance to state, this was the first year that Doty was eligible to attend state. He has been participating in science fairs since first grade. Most of his projects have been developed around physics; however last year he concentrated his focus on a project related to baseball, his other recreational passion.
Doty’s career aspiration is to play baseball and then teach physics and astronomy when he retires. Not surprising, since both of his parents are college professors in the field. He admitted what he enjoys most about science is, “Learning about the accidental things science can teach you. For example, last year I learned how to throw a curve ball by accident while working on my science project. What he discovered works, he said.
While at the state competition, Doty also won first place for Outstanding Physics Project in his age group which qualifies him to present his project at the next meeting of either the Ohio Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers or the Ohio Section of American Physical Society. Both meetings are scheduled for October, 2014. He has not decided which, if either, he will attend just yet. “I need to see what my schedule will look like first,” he said.
No matter whether or not he decides to participate in the fall meetings, one thing is certain; he will be back at it next school year, and his project will most likely center around rockets or baseball.