Rocket Equation
The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, or ideal rocket equation is an equation that is useful for considering vehicles that follow the basic principle of a rocket: where a device that can apply acceleration to itself (a thrust) by expelling part of its mass with high speed and moving due to the conservation of momentum. Specifically, it is a mathematical equation that relates the delta-v (the maximum change of speed of the rocket if no other external forces act) with the effective exhaust velocity and the initial and final mass of a rocket (or other reaction engine.)
For any such maneuver (or journey involving a number of such maneuvers):
where:
- is the initial total mass, including propellant,
- is the final total mass,
- is the effective exhaust velocity ( where is the specific impulse expressed as a time period and is the gravitational constant),
- is delta-v - the maximum change of speed of the vehicle (with no external forces acting).
Read more about this topic: Orbital Maneuver, General
Famous quotes containing the words rocket and/or equation:
“Along a parabola life like a rocket flies,
Mainly in darkness, now and then on a rainbow.”
—Andrei Voznesensky (b. 1933)
“Jail sentences have many functions, but one is surely to send a message about what our society abhors and what it values. This week, the equation was twofold: female infidelity twice as bad as male abuse, the life of a woman half as valuable as that of a man. The killing of the woman taken in adultery has a long history and survives today in many cultures. One of those is our own.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)