For example, if I took a butane lighter & fired it up, there’s no force in any direction. How does a rocket ignition work & propel itself upwards?
Thanks,
In: Engineering
By throwing mass out the back.
F=dp/dt as per newton’s second law
F=d/dt(mv)
The fuel has mass, and if we throw it out the back very fast, the rocket needs to gain an equal and opposite amount of momentum.
F=dm/dt v where v is the speed of the exhaust and dm/dt is the rate of fuel flow.
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