Rocket

While my husband was sitting in a box seat at the basketball game between my alma mater and our arch rival (thanks to a free ticket from a vendor), the kids sensed how much I wanted to be there with him, so they surprised me with some "scientific" amusements. They built a rocket when I wasn't looking and were so confident that it would fly really far that they attached a note with instructions on how to return it "should it land in Africa or Japan or someplace far, far, away".  They also wore helmets "in case something goes wrong and it explodes."  Recognizing the mount of drag the note (which was larger than the rocket itself) would cause, the poor weather conditions (it was sleeting outside), and the fuel mixture they made up themselves instead of following a formula or recipe, my hypothesis was that it would not fly period, much less reach Africa.  I'm afraid my hypothesis was more accurate than theirs, but you gotta give them credit for their ambition.

The next day, they donned their lab coats (aka bath robes) and tried again with some help from Dad.  He helped them mix up some fuel (baking soda and vinegar) and suggested they remove the note.  It flew about 5 feet into the air before falling back down.  No helmets were required.

PS:  My team won the basketball game upsetting the much higher ranked rival.  My husband got to see a fabulous game.