Electricity Powered Bottle Rocket

bottle rocket is a bottle shot up by water escaping with pressure

in this rocket the pressure is created by vaporizing the water inside the bottle with electricity

this project brings together water and electricity. high pressure of steam and oxygen / nitrogen mix are created here

it is VERY easy to electrocute / start a fire / hit by hot steam and sharpnel / get injured or killed in other ways

if you dont know how to remain alive - this project is not for you !

if you know - its up to you and entirely on your responsibility

check that everything is unplugged before you touch. i know its obvious but i just tend to get shocked myself all the time

2 plastic bottles
electrical cable with 2.5 mm2 copper wires (aluminium not recommended)
hard copper wire
aluminium foil
wine cork
hot glue or silicone window sealant
water
food salt (NaCl) (optional)

available 110 / 240 V electricity source capable of 10 A (240 V) or 20 A (110 V) for short time. 30+ / 40+ A recomended (most 16 A circuits can give 30 - 40 A for few minutes without tripping breakers)

common tools

cut a shet of plastic from the cylindrical part of a large bottle

roll it to a pipe. width is about 1/2 the neck of the bottle. height is 2/3 the height of the bottle

catch it with sticky tape

cut 2 holes near its center about 1 inch apart

strip the end of the cable. leave long wires as seen in the image. the ground wire is not needed

drill the cork to get the cable through

insert the cable into the cork. seal with hot glue or window sealant from the side thats in the bottle

push the cable into the isolator and get out the wires through the holes

the wire close to the cork should be neutral. otherwise the wet cork may attract leak currents and kick out your rcd

wrap the isolator with aluminium foil from the exit of each wire and to its end

wrap tightly hard copper wire over each electrode. leave free end near the exit of the wires

connect together tight the supply wire and the copper wire of each electrode

bend everything down so its free to go through the bottle neck

wire the plug to the cable

dont connect the earth wire. its other end may attract leak currents and kick out your rcd

fill the bottle with enough water to cover the entire isolator

close the bottle. push the cork in with a force that still allows you to pull it out with your hand without difficulty

when you try this for the 1st time use just water. if you want higher current (faster reaction) next time mix some food salt (NaCl) in the water

set up the bottle in vertical position. its ready to fire !

plug it in and wait few minutes

be ready for shut down rcd when it flies (electricity and water are now outside the sealed bottle)

if you ues the bottle cap instead of cork the bottle will blow up

the amount of air in the botte determines how much time it will take to blast. to get the blast faster fill the entire bottle

even with full bottle it takes long time - unless you put in a lot of salt and give it huge current

be ready for a short circuit and kicked off breakers once it blasts. to avoid it add a high power resistor (like electrical heater without motor) to the circuit. the resistor lowers the current so youll have to wait longer