Standard soda bottles generally fail at around 150 PSI, but you don’t want to go anywhere near that level; your carefully built rocket exploding into plastic shrapnel will ruin your day, I promise.

You start with some soda in a bottle and you pour a bit of it out (to make room for the butane). Next, you add the butane on the top of the soda. Butane has a boiling point of 30°F (-1°C).

All you need is baking soda, vinegar, a paper towel, three pencils, some tape, and a plastic soda bottle. This basic chemical reaction can launch the rocket up to 100 feet.

SAFETY: This rocket uses air pressure to fling a bottle at high speed 20–50 metres. The bottle must be made entirely of plastic, it must have no sharp points and it must be for a fizzy drink, so ...