Competitions

Water Rocket Car Race 2012

Not Water Rocket, Not Mousetrap Car, It’s the Water Rocket Car!!!

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By Viriya Keo, 11F

Water Rocket Car Race 2012 Clips

As you all know, on the 26th of May, the Physics department hosted a competition known as the Water Rocket Car Race. It’s a combination of the two highly enjoyable competitions from last year, Mousetrap Car and Water Rocket.

A bottle filled with water, strapped on a car, pumped with air; then released will propel the car forward according to a law revealed by Newton in his third law of motion (Action-Reaction). Whether it goes fast or slow, straight or curved, it all depends on slight technical differences that determines the winner.

The entire school had been gearing up for the competition for a few days now. Everywhere you looked you could see students holding wheels, spray bottles, and pumps. Everybody was trying their best to make their car go straight and far.

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Finally the big day arrived. The first thing that struck everyone as they arrived at school was the heart-pounding music and the nice shades. It seemed like it was going to be a fun day. We had to wait a while until Mr. Merkin called all of us to line up to take photos of our cars and us. And then it was time to race.

He called participants class by class, each group releasing their cars and travelling perpendicular to the starting line. While waiting for their turns, students gathered under the tent and enjoyed the delicious Turkish Doner. At around 12, first section groups had all been called and it was time for a break before the second section competition started.

The results haven’t been officially announced but I’m sure some of you have some ideas about who the winners are. Even if you didn’t win, I urge you to still join other competitions in the future for this isn’t just about winning; it’s about enjoying the learning process as well.

I would like to thank our school and physics teachers, Mr. Gurkan Cil, Mr. Davut Aslan, Mr. Enis Gokgoz and Mr. Mustafa Ozgur for organizing this unforgettable competition.

By Soung Sothira Toch, 11-E

When I first heard there was going to be a water rocket car competition, the first thing that came to my mind was “Not Again”. I was reluctant to join the event as I thought the process of making a rocket-car was too time-consuming and was just a rehash of past year water rocket and mouse trap competitions. However, my team and I managed to make a car in time for the competition. The competition finally caught up to us.

On that day, it was hot, wet, very tiring but most importantly it was so fun! Seeing so many other students from all grades test their cars and glance to their sides to secretly check if their cars went further than the car next to them, and fighting my friends over who got to pull the break to release the car, made the competition even quite exciting. I was so impressed by all the various designs and types of cars in the competition. It really showed of the creativity and hard-work of all the students. I might have said “Not Again” when I first heard the Water Rocket Car Race but now I can’t wait to compete in the next competition AGAIN!

By Vann Lydeth Chen, 11B

It was a challenging day on 26 May, 2012, the water rocket car race. All boy side students gathered together at 11:30am and some came at around 12:00pm. The first thing I realized when I stepped off of my bike is that it was an extremely hot sunny day. Teachers announced that the contest would be starting at 1:00 pm and reminded us to get ready. Some competitors were confident and ready for the race while some weren’t ready yet and continued working with their car as fast as possible.

The race started at 1:00 pm as expected and the competition started with the 12th grades. Mr. Gurkan was instructing the competitors, class by class how to set up and start their car. During the race, we could predict the winner of the competition already because we could see a few of the cars went extremely far compared to the others. Finally, the competition ended and all competitors went back home with tired but happy faces after enjoying this fun contest.

I would like to extend my thanks to all 654 students, assistant teachers and teachers who joined the Water Rocket Car Race 2012 for making this competition the most participated in activity of any science activity in school history.
M. Gurkan CIL

By Mony Vuth Ly, 7-B

The water rocket car competition is about team work. Each member of the team must give ideas and work together. In my opinion this is a very good event for increasing co-operation with each other.

By Oussa Chea, 7-B

On the 26 May 2012 we had a water car race. Every car looked nice and some went very far. Our car was a giant water rocket car. We tested it when it was filled with water and gas, but then one of the tanks didnt work and we had to re-adjust some parts. When we decided to show it in the competition one of the tanks still didnt work, so we had to release it by hand. Because of the low water capacity it only went 17m instead of 35m. Even though we didnt win, I am still proud of my group and hope to make a better water rocket car for the competition next year.

By Sunly Lim, 7B

The water rocket car competition was very cool I was very happy and nervous on the day. I liked our water rocket car because it was so big. The most exciting thing is we worked and painted it together. I enjoyed it because I got to drive our car.

By Vanhak Sok, 7B

I remember the water rocket car race day because it was fun. Me and my friends made a big water rocket car but it didnt travel very far because of a small problem. But we still enjoyed it. I knew before that we wouldn’t win but it didn’t matter. To me it was important that everyone enjoyed it. I had never seen this before so I was very excited and I would like to thank our physics club teacher Mr. Mustafa Ozgur for letting us work on an interesting project.

By Vingou Norak Phal, 7B

It was an awesome activity. I really enjoyed the water rocket car race. We went to the dormitory together with our teacher to make our car and paint it. Our car was not very fast but it had a sterring mechanism like a real car! It looked good on race day and went a long distance. We really enjoyed this activity. We have lots of great memories of this day together with our teacher.

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