The main part of your rocket is the body or PRESSURE CHAMBER. We will be using a 2 liter bottle for our project. Almost any 2 liter bottle will work, however, some bottles have a mouth or opening (nozzle) that is too small to accommodate the launch tube. The launch tube is a regular 1/2 inch piece of PVC tubing. The tube should slide snugly into the nozzle of the bottle forming a nearly air tight seal. We don't wish to endorse any particular brand of beverage so the following statement has been gleaned from experience. We have found that the majority of Coke™ related 2 liter bottles will work while a majority of Pepsi™ related bottles will not. This is not to say that the smaller nozzle bottles are worthless, rather they should be used for other components of the rocket like nose cones or fins.

Peel the label off your bottle and try to clean the glue residue the best that you can. Be careful not to use hot water on the bottle because it might shrink the sides and deform the bottle.

Don't use any knives or sharp instruments when cleaning your bottle. Even the smallest of scratches or cuts in the pressure chamber can result in an explosion. Besides the risk of physical injury, an exploded rocket will earn you a ZERO for a grade.

Some people have tried to use chemical solvents to remove the glue residue on the bottle. This might alter the walls of the bottle and make them too brittle or soft. Therefore we don't recommend it.

When launching, the tremendous pressure inside the bottle will cause the walls to expand. This expansion leads to a loss of energy and will make for a lack luster performance. To solve this problem take some wide strapping tape (the best), packing tape, or duct tape and pre-wrap the center of the pressure chamber. One and a half times around should do the trick. You don't want the tape to be too bulky and watch for wrinkles. This will strengthen the walls of the bottle without adding too much mass and launch altitude will increase overall.