A8-3 Model Rocket Impulse Measurement

An experiment was performed to measure the impulse of the A8-3 Estes model rocket engine. The measurements were obtained by mounting an engine vertically onto a frame and measuring the changing weight of the assembly during the firing period for six trials. Thrust was calculated by the difference in measured weight from the rest weight while accounting for the mass loss rate. The impulse of each of the six thrust curves was averaged to find the final impulse measurement: 2.36 (+/-) .16 N-s. Estimates of the average thrust and exhaust velocity were also calculated from the impulse measurement.