How does a rocket work? Is it different from a jet engine?
In: Engineering
A jet engine takes the ambient air and compresses it using fan blades, then injects fuel into that compressed air and ignites it, then uses the rapid expansion and expulsion of the hot air to push the aircraft forward.
A rocket engine does NOT take in any ambient air. It uses internally stored oxidizers and fuels, mixes them, combusts them, and uses the rapid ejection of the combustion products to push the rocket forward.
Major difference is obviously that the jet engine does not store its own oxidizer, it grabs it from the air. This is why jet engines cannot function in space, while rocket engines can, because they bring their own supplies.
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