If we assume we are in a perfect vacuum in space, where there’s no friction or anything to slow us down, at what point would bursts of fuel from thrusters stop increasing our speed? And would they even?
Now, I understand that by einstein, we need infinite energy to accelerate to speed of light, but i cant intuitively see how a rocket wouldnt constantly speed up in a vacuum when given constant bursts of rocket thrust. Im sure im missing something pretty simple here, but nevertheless.
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Since we’re having a discussion about physics I feel I need to be precise here. The question you ask is about acceleration. As a measurement acceleration is just a measurement of how much force is added to something per a given time. If I am falling at terminal velocity towards earth my acceleration is 0m/s² but my velocity about 56 m/s. This means I’m gaining no more velocity but i am still travelling at a really fast rate.
So to answer your question literally, the max amount of acceleration a rocket can produce is based on how much fuel it can burn and expel as gas.
What I believe you’re asking is if there is a top speed that a rocket can get an object to in space. Max speed is governed mostly by how much force a rocket can produce and how long. There are theoretical rocket engines that don’t produce much thrust, but they “burn” for so long (years on end) that they accelerate the space craft to a significant fraction of the speed of light.
So the max top speed of a rocket is a combination of how much force it can produce per second and how many seconds have passed.
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