Isaac Newton's Contribution to Rockets!
This is the law of motion with which many people are familiar. It is the principle of action and reaction. In the case of rockets, the action is the force produced by the expulsion of gas, smoke, and flames from the nozzle end of a rocket engine. The reaction force propels the rocket in the opposite direction.
When a rocket lifts off, the combustion products from the burning propellants accelerate rapidly out of the engine. The rocket, on the other hand, slowly accelerates skyward.
A Taste of Real Rocket Science
Naturally, launching rockets into space is more complicated than Newton’s laws of motion imply. Designing rockets that can actually lift off Earth and reach orbital speeds is an extremely complicated process. Newton’s laws are the beginning, but many other things come into play. For example, air pressure plays an important role while the rocket is still in the atmosphere. The internal pressure produced by burning rocket propellants inside the rocket engine combustion chamber has to be greater than the outside pressure to escape through the engine nozzle. In a sense, the outside air is like a cork in the engine. It takes some of the pressure generated inside the engine just to exceed the ambient outside pressure. Consequently, the velocity of combustion products passing through the opening or throat of the nozzle is reduced. The good news is that as the rocket climbs into space, the ambient pressure becomes less and less as the atmosphere thins and the engine thrust increases.
Another important factor is the changing mass of the rocket. As the rocket is gaining thrust as it accelerates upward due to outside pressure changes, it is also getting a boost due to its changing mass. Every bit of rocket propellant burned has mass. As the combustion products are ejected by the engine, the total mass of the vehicle lessens. As it does its inertia, or resistance to change in motion, becomes less. As a result, upward acceleration of the rocket increases. This is explained by Isaac Newton's second law of motion.
The second law relates force, acceleration, and mass. The law is often written as the equation:
f = ma
The force or thrust produced by a rocket engine is made by the mass of the gas and particles produced by burning rocket propellant times the acceleration of those combustion products out the back of the engine. This law only applies to what is actually traveling out of the engine at the moment and not the mass of the rocket propellant contained in the rocket that will be consumed later.
The implication of this law for rocketry is that the more propellant (m) you consume at any moment and the greater the acceleration (a) of the combustion products out of the nozzle, the greater the thrust (f).
The equation for the thrust of a rocket is
f (force)= mass exiting the rocket at that time, times by (x) the Acceleration or Velocity exiting the rocket (the speed the rocket travels at) + (The pressure inside the rocket - Pressure outside the rocket) times by (x) area
When the rocket reaches space there is no pressure which effects the equation so therefore
= mexitVexit
In real rocket science, many other things also come into play.
• Even with a low acceleration, the rocket will gain speed over time because acceleration accumulates.
• Not all rocket propellants are alike. Some produce much greater thrust than others because of their burning rate and mass. It would seem obvious that rocket scientists would always choose the more energetic propellants. Not so. Each choice a rocket scientist makes comes with a cost. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are very energetic when burned, but they both have to be kept chilled to very low temperatures. Furthermore, their mass is low, and very big tanks are needed to contain enough propellant to do the job.
In Conclusion...
Newton’s laws of motion explain just about everything you need to know to become a rocket scientist. However, knowing the laws is not enough. You have to know how to apply them, such as:
- How can you create enough thrust to exceed the weight of the rocket?
- What structural materials and propellant combinations should you use?
- How big will the rocket have to be?
- How can you make the rocket go where you want it to?
- How can you bring it back to Earth safely?
When a rocket lifts off, the combustion products from the burning propellants accelerate rapidly out of the engine. The rocket, on the other hand, slowly accelerates skyward.
A Taste of Real Rocket Science
Naturally, launching rockets into space is more complicated than Newton’s laws of motion imply. Designing rockets that can actually lift off Earth and reach orbital speeds is an extremely complicated process. Newton’s laws are the beginning, but many other things come into play. For example, air pressure plays an important role while the rocket is still in the atmosphere. The internal pressure produced by burning rocket propellants inside the rocket engine combustion chamber has to be greater than the outside pressure to escape through the engine nozzle. In a sense, the outside air is like a cork in the engine. It takes some of the pressure generated inside the engine just to exceed the ambient outside pressure. Consequently, the velocity of combustion products passing through the opening or throat of the nozzle is reduced. The good news is that as the rocket climbs into space, the ambient pressure becomes less and less as the atmosphere thins and the engine thrust increases.
Another important factor is the changing mass of the rocket. As the rocket is gaining thrust as it accelerates upward due to outside pressure changes, it is also getting a boost due to its changing mass. Every bit of rocket propellant burned has mass. As the combustion products are ejected by the engine, the total mass of the vehicle lessens. As it does its inertia, or resistance to change in motion, becomes less. As a result, upward acceleration of the rocket increases. This is explained by Isaac Newton's second law of motion.
The second law relates force, acceleration, and mass. The law is often written as the equation:
f = ma
The force or thrust produced by a rocket engine is made by the mass of the gas and particles produced by burning rocket propellant times the acceleration of those combustion products out the back of the engine. This law only applies to what is actually traveling out of the engine at the moment and not the mass of the rocket propellant contained in the rocket that will be consumed later.
The implication of this law for rocketry is that the more propellant (m) you consume at any moment and the greater the acceleration (a) of the combustion products out of the nozzle, the greater the thrust (f).
The equation for the thrust of a rocket is
f (force)= mass exiting the rocket at that time, times by (x) the Acceleration or Velocity exiting the rocket (the speed the rocket travels at) + (The pressure inside the rocket - Pressure outside the rocket) times by (x) area
When the rocket reaches space there is no pressure which effects the equation so therefore
= mexitVexit
In real rocket science, many other things also come into play.
• Even with a low acceleration, the rocket will gain speed over time because acceleration accumulates.
• Not all rocket propellants are alike. Some produce much greater thrust than others because of their burning rate and mass. It would seem obvious that rocket scientists would always choose the more energetic propellants. Not so. Each choice a rocket scientist makes comes with a cost. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are very energetic when burned, but they both have to be kept chilled to very low temperatures. Furthermore, their mass is low, and very big tanks are needed to contain enough propellant to do the job.
In Conclusion...
Newton’s laws of motion explain just about everything you need to know to become a rocket scientist. However, knowing the laws is not enough. You have to know how to apply them, such as:
- How can you create enough thrust to exceed the weight of the rocket?
- What structural materials and propellant combinations should you use?
- How big will the rocket have to be?
- How can you make the rocket go where you want it to?
- How can you bring it back to Earth safely?