I was watching a falcon heavy launch on YouTube. In the corner of the screen it shows speed and altitude of the rocket, I noticed that once the boosters disconnected they continued to gain altitude before finally coming back down to earth. Iscit the momentum that carries them further?
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You can learn just about everything about basic rocket physics from throwing a ball straight up into the air.
Your arm pushes the ball until it lets go, then the ball flies for a while, in the direction you threw it, but also slowing down, because, you know, gravity, then eventually hits the ground. It doesn’t stop moving after you let it go.
The same is true for rockets. Rockets are like super long arms that continue throwing *themselves* until they run out of fuel. When the rocket runs out of fuel, it has finally let go of the ball, then it does the same thing the ball does.
(If the five year old in question can grasp this, you can talk about lift and how planes are kinda like frisbees)
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