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newton's laws

Diagram of Ptolemy’s model (geocentric) with Earth at the centre

Article

Our Solar System – revolutionary ideas

Since the earliest times, humans have made observations of the night sky. These observations, particularly of the Earth, Moon, Sun ...

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Sir Isaac Newton

Article

Sir Isaac Newton

Born in England in 1643, Sir Isaac Newton could easily have ended up as a farmer instead of becoming one ...

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Investigating rockets – introduction

Article

Investigating rockets – introduction

Rocket science includes ideas of forces and motion, how rockets work and some of the challenges for those wanting to ...

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Balloon car challenge

Activity

Balloon car challenge

In this activity, students design and build a balloon-powered car to better understand the science ideas related to rocket propulsion. ...

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Non-Newtonian fluids

Article

Non-Newtonian fluids

Many people have heard of Sir Isaac Newton. He is famous for developing many scientific theories in mathematics and physics. ...

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Strange liquids – introduction

Article

Strange liquids – introduction

Liquid is one of the states of matter, and viscosity is a property of liquid. Some liquids display strange behaviour ...

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Investigating rockets – key terms

Article

Investigating rockets – key terms

Taking science and technology to new heights. Rocket science includes ideas of forces and motion, how rockets work and some of the challenges for those wanting ...

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Professor Susan Krumdieck

Article

Professor Susan Krumdieck

Position: Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Canterbury University and Director of the Advanced Energy and Material Systems Lab. Field: Energy and materials engineering. Professor Susan Krumdieck ...

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Sir Peter Beck

Article

Sir Peter Beck

Position: CEO and technical director, Rocket Lab Field: Rocket engineering Sir Peter Beck is CEO and technical director of Rocket Lab, a New Zealand rocket technology ...

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Calculating rocket acceleration

Article

Calculating rocket acceleration

How does the acceleration of a model rocket compare to the Space Shuttle? By using the resultant force and mass, acceleration can be calculated. A model ...

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Hypersonic vehicles

Article

Hypersonic vehicles

Hypersonic vehicles are perhaps a dream of the future, but if they have a chance of happening, research is important to develop materials that will handle ...

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Getting rockets into space

Article

Getting rockets into space

Rockets launched into space can be suborbital (brief visit to space) or orbital (staying in motion around the Earth) or can escape Earth’s gravity to travel ...

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Types of chemical rocket engines

Article

Types of chemical rocket engines

Chemical rocket engines use a fuel (something to burn) and an oxidiser (something to react with the fuel). Together, they are referred to as the propellant. ...

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Rockets and mass

Article

Rockets and mass

The mass of a rocket is important for two reasons – an object with less mass accelerates more quickly, and an object with more mass has ...

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Rockets and thrust

Article

Rockets and thrust

What is a rocket pushing against to make it start moving? Is it pushing against the ground? The air? The flames? Final launch of Space Shuttle ...

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Lift-off

Article

Lift-off

A rocket will launch and keep speeding up as long as the force pushing it upwards (thrust) is greater than the forces pulling and pushing it ...

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Materials for hypersonic vehicles

Article

Materials for hypersonic vehicles

Dr Susan Krumdieck from the University of Canterbury is helping to develop new materials for possible future hypersonic vehicles that travel 10 times the speed of ...

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Rocket control

Article

Rocket control

University of Canterbury PhD students Malcolm Snowdon and Avinash Rao are developing flight control systems for rockets. They use electronic sensors to measure any changes in ...

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New Zealand’s first space launch

Article

New Zealand’s first space launch

Rocket Lab launched New Zealand’s first rocket designed to reach space in 2009. Their goal in launching the rocket, was to develop and showcase innovative technology ...

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Investigating rockets – question bank

Article

Investigating rockets – question bank

An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. The question bank provides an initial list of questions about rockets and places where their ...

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Brief history of rockets – timeline

Article

Brief history of rockets – timeline

This timeline looks at some of the historical aspects of rockets – taking science and technology to new heights. 1232 – Chinese fire arrows The first ...

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Oobleck versus flubber

Article

Oobleck versus flubber

Shaan Singh-Prahar (13) and Jerram Bryant (12) created quite a stir at the 2009 NIWA science fair held in Hamilton. The two Year 8 boys from ...

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Liquids

Article

Liquids

Liquids are one of the states of matter – the other states are solids, gases, plasmas and Bose-Einstein condensates. The simplest way to determine if something ...

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A monitoring buoy on Lake Rotorua , New Zealand.

Article

Viscosity

If you poured some water down a slope, it would flow freely and quickly, but what about if you repeated the process with honey? Can you ...

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Sick cows, soap and science

Article

Sick cows, soap and science

New Zealand’s economy is highly reliant on the dairy industry so anything that affects the quality of our milk products is extremely important. One condition that ...

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