I read recently about an airplane that is powered by ion flow which apparently creates a forward thrust airflow which creates lift in the wings.
https://www.unilad.co.uk/technology/scientists-have-created-a-plane-that-flies-using-ion-thrusters-and-no-fuel/
No moving parts involved, no fuel, no propeller, no engine.
It is fueled by ions pulled from nitrogen in air .
This technology is confusing to me as I am a non-scientist. Although I am 5 I have the intellectual prowess of a 12 year old.
Is this thrust generation analogous to those old Sharper Image Ionic Breeze air filters which created a small air flow without any moving parts?
And I assume although there is no fuel there must be A battery or solar cell to create electric current?
In: Technology
Airplane works by taking incoming air and sending it out the back with a push. The push makes the plane go forward faster. Or depending on how you angle the plane, the push can also be used to make the plane go upward, against gravity (it helps if you have the correct kind of shape, which is why planes have wings).
Small / older planes burn fuel to run internal combustion engines that spin propellers, basically giant fans, to push the air. Jet planes have highly specialized engines that more directly use the burning fuel to push the air.
The ion thruster uses repulsion of electric charge to push the plane. Basically it works like this:
– Take the incoming nitrogen molecules from the air (air is over 70% nitrogen)
– Make them positively charged
– Let them go in front of a positively charged surface firmly bolted to the plane
– Like charges repel
Basically this achieves pushing air out the back. The only moving parts are electrons.
Ion thrusters are super weak. You’ll note this test was an extremely small, light craft; a very short flight; and nothing on board but the thruster itself. We’ve actually had ion-controlled spacecraft for many years now. Ion thrusters are actually a rare example of a technology that works better in space than on Earth. In space there’s nothing to slow you down, so it doesn’t matter if you take months to gradually build up speed from a very weak but very efficient ion engine that only exerts a few grams of force.
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