Straw rockets and Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion

Visual instructions for creating an origami rocket.

Video

To watch my video please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl_acqfxdEk. This was inspired by origami star’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FTO2xtmoZQ. Why not subscribe to their channel for more origami fun? The research that I did around Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion was taken from Purdue University’s school project pdf which can be found at https://engineering.purdue.edu/PurdueSpaceDay/education/Straw%20Rockets.pdf as well as several other home school sites such as https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_rockets_lesson03_activity1

Fun Fact

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, two Nasa Astronauts stuck in space arrived safely home on 18 March 2025 after being stuck in space for 9 months at the International Space Station when originally they were only meant to be there for 8 days! Read more on https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9de6q52g8qt.

Materials

Origami Paper

bendable straw

Steps

1. Turn the paper over to the lighter side.

2. Fold diagonally in half to form a triangle. Unfold.

3. Repeat on the opposite side so that you end up with an X folded onto your square paper. Unfold and turn over your piece of paper to the darker side.

4. Fold the paper in half vertically, then unfold. Turn and fold in half again. Unfold. You should see a cross as well as the X.

5. Fold in the middle sections so you're left with a triangle.

6. Fold the sides of the triangle down towards the middle.

7. Fold in the sides of the diamond towards the middle.

8. Fold the ends of the diamond outwards.

9. Turn the paper over and repeat steps 5, 6 and 7.

10. Put your finger in the middle of the rocket to make it 3D.

11. Stand up on the table, place a straw underneath, and then blow.

Explanation

This activity uses Laws 1 and 3 of Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion.

Law 1: An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

• This law is seen because the rocket stays still until someone applies a force by blowing through the straw. The rocket stays in flight until gravity causes it to come back down again.

Law 3: Whenever one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first.

• The person blowing through the straw exerts the force, thrust, which allows the rocket to go upwards at the same force that the person produced with their puff.

• Challenge!! Vary your puffs to see what effect this has on the rocket. Can you think of other ways to make a rocket using household materials?