Propulsion Definition and 291 Threads

Propulsion is the action or process of pushing or pulling to drive an object forward. The term is derived from two Latin words: pro, meaning before or forward; and pellere, meaning to drive.
A propulsion system consists of a source of mechanical power, and a propulsor (means of converting this power into propulsive force).
A technological system uses an engine or motor as the power source (commonly called a powerplant), and wheels and axles, propellers, or a propulsive nozzle to generate the force. Components such as clutches or gearboxes may be needed to connect the motor to axles, wheels, or propellers.
Biological propulsion systems use an animal's muscles as the power source, and limbs such as wings, fins or legs as the propulsors.
A technological/biological system may use human, or trained animal, muscular work to power a mechanical device.

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  1. A

    Rocket Propulsion Gas Injection

    Please help, book gives no examples relatively close to this. A rocket is fired in deep space, where gravity is negligible. If the rocket has an initial mass of 6000 kg and ejects gas at a relative velocity of magnitude 2000 m/s , how much gas must it eject in the first second to have...
  2. H

    Improving Propulsion, Design/Aerodynamics, Power, Materials & Cost

    I am doing a Mini-Project on the solar impulse aircraft. http://www.solarimpulse.com/index.php You may or may not have heard about if before, but guess you would have. --- Aim of the project is to suggest ways to improve the project under several catagories - Propulation -...
  3. R

    Rocket Propulsion Homework: Find Thrust & Impulse

    Homework Statement A rocket operating with combustion chamber pressure and temperatures of 14MPa and 2500K respectively, has a throat diameter of 0.3m, and a nozzle area ratio of 50:1. Find the thrust and specific impulse developed by the motor with back pressures of 1 bar (10^5 Pa) and zero...
  4. C

    How Much Fuel and Oxidizer is Required for a Rocket to Reach 10,000 m/s?

    Homework Statement A rocket for use in deep space is to have the capability of boosting a total load (payload plus the rocket frame and engine) of 3.10 metric tons to a speed of 10 000 m/s. (a) It has an engine and fuel designed to produce an exhaust speed of 2000 m/s. How much fuel plus...
  5. G

    Inertial Propulsion Discussion: Energy Conservation

    In the follow link we are having a discussion about inertial propulsion: http://www.gyroscopes.org/forum/questions.asp?id=994 Bellow I transcript an open question that I’d like to share with you: The question is: How will be the energy conservation in the following experiment: “These...
  6. N

    Rocket Propulsion Homework: Calculating Mass Loss R

    Homework Statement A Roadrunner F45 rocket engine, of mass 93g, is attached to a 2kg cylinder, which glides along a horizontal low friction nylon fishing wire. The thrust curve for the rocket engine is given. In reality, 30g of propellant are burned as the engine is ignited. Calculate the...
  7. J

    Propulsion for a Robot on near frictionless surface.

    Some of you are familiar with the US FIRST Robotics organization, a program that introduces robotics to high school students. This years game/task involves playing on a surface that is VERY SLIPPERY, intended to effectively simulate "floating" in 1/6th Earth's gravity as if the robot was on the...
  8. R

    Launching a 50,000 Kg Bus - Calculating Propulsion Needed

    Hello~ Given the average full size bus is 50,000 Kg, how much propulsion would I be required to launch said bus, let's say: 200 feet? I have drawn a schematic to get you started: http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/452/buscannonfe2.th.png Thanks!
  9. A

    A thrustless propulsion device Help me out

    About a decade or so ago, I came across a website that featured a reactionless drive some guy built in his garage. My google-fu is weak, and I can't seem to find any info on it on the net anymore, and was hoping someone knew something about it. It worked as follows: There are two rings, set...
  10. N

    Is Microwave-Based Jet Propulsion Viable for Marine Vehicles?

    Hi, I'm new to the forums and I'd like to bounce an idea off of someone :biggrin: Although I've got a physics degree, I have successfully managed to forget a lot of it as people tend to do when not practicing, and I was wondering if someone would kindly pick some holes in an idea I've had...
  11. L

    Is the Anti-Gravity Propulsion System in the Video Legit?

    Hey guys, I was just chekin out some vids on youtube and found this. Of course, this is too hard for me to understand "yet". Please watch this video and tell me if this guy's just a lame liar or he actually knows what he's talkin about. Thanks!
  12. I

    Propulsion Help: Seeking Advice on ROV Propellers

    Hello Forum. I'm new here, and thought this would be a good place to ask some questions. Currently at my school, we are building an ROV for a competition. I came here to ask specifically about propellers in terms of sizes, and rpm. Last years team entered the competition without any...
  13. W

    Outer Space Propulsion: Degrees for Nuclear Engineering

    My B.S. will be in Engineering Physics. Suppose I want to go into the study of new/developed propulsion systems used for outer-space travel. Take for instance nuclear propulsion. Would a master's in nuclear engineering would be sufficient to get started? What other degrees besides physics...
  14. C

    Could Vortexes Enhance Rocket Propulsion Efficiency?

    rocket propulsion and "vortexes" Hi I have been reading a little about vortexes of late. ie hurricane shaped formations. and I wondered if such vortexes were deliberately designed into rocket propulsion systems. I have seen no examples of such in standard rockets whether they be powered...
  15. R

    Can magnetic propulsion be used for flight in Earth's atmosphere and in space?

    Can the idea of magnetic propulsion applied in magnetically levitated trains be used in aerospace? My conceptual model is as follows : using the magnetic field of Earth ( very weak I know) to repel a superconducting coil, with large surface area and moving very fast . Thus the lifting force...
  16. madmike159

    Light Propulsion: Can Photons Move Objects?

    I saw a program along time ago where a very light piece of material was caused to move using a laser beam. I know that there would of been a lot of energy because it was a vary intense beam of blue light, but photons have no mass so how do they move anything. If photons can move objects with...
  17. T

    Geomagnetic Propulsion: Feasibility & Detection

    It has long been theorized that UFOs are able to attain such incredible speed and maneuvering by causing a repulsive force on the Earth's geomagnetic field. Magnetohydrodynamics proves that a vehicle can use magnetism to propel itself without any external man-made assistance (such as in bullet...
  18. W

    Where Can I Find Detailed Resources on Microwave Propulsion and APS?

    Recently I watched some paper about new propulsion technologies focused in Light e.g Laser and Microwave, so I'd like to know where can I obtain deep information about the subjet, due, papers found it at the internet just describe bit information. I'm interesting mainly in microwave propulsion...
  19. C

    How much fuel is needed to reach a specific velocity in rocket propulsion?

    Homework Statement The space shuttle, with an initial mass M = 2.41E+6 kg, is launched from the surface of the Earth with an initial net acceleration a = 26.1 m/s2. The rate of fuel consumption is R = 6.90E+3 kg/s. The shuttle reaches outer space with a velocity of vo = 4632 m/s, and a mass of...
  20. J

    Rocket propulsion fuel velocity

    Rocket propulsion In the serway textbook at the rocket propulsion section it is mentioned that If the fuel is ejected with a speed v_e relative to the rocket (the subscript e stands for exhaust, and v_e is usually called the exhaust speed), the velocity of the fuel relative to the Earth is...
  21. T

    Rocket Propulsion Speed of Fragments

    A fireworks rocket is fired vertically upward. At its maximum height of 75.0m , it explodes and breaks into two pieces, one with mass = 1.25kg and the other with mass = 0.240kg . In the explosion, 910 J of chemical energy is converted to kinetic energy of the two fragments. a) What is the...
  22. R

    Propulsion system for a single engine propeller driven a/c

    for my design project, i have to consider a feasible prop systm for a single engine propellr driven aircraft and I am thinking about diesel engines. they seem very efficient and cheap for aircraft propulsion. ill have a small number for power/ weight ratio but it will be cheaper and it wll use...
  23. M

    Jet Propulsion Career Advice: Best Route & Top Colleges in Plymouth, UK

    Hi, my mate has just left school and wants a career in jet propulsion or aircraft structure, he lives in plymouth (uk) and don't have any A to C grades... what would you recommend his best route is? and what decent colleges are there that specialize in this sort of thing?
  24. M

    Revolutionizing Space Travel: A New Form of Propulsion Without Limitations

    Hey, I know it's easier said then done but why are scientists spending so much money trying to improve the way we travel using "fuel" i.e hydrogen or whatever they use to go mach 2 plus. let's be realistic we are never going to be able to travel far into space because it uses to much fuel and we...
  25. K

    Exploring Light Particle Propulsion in Space

    is it possible to catch light particles and have them push you along in some kind of space ship, and if you could would it be the speed of light
  26. Astronuc

    VASIMR Propulsion: Revolutionizing Space Transportation & Exploration

    Evo brought this to my attention in another thread. http://www.adastrarocket.com/home.html http://www.adastrarocket.com/vasimr.html This is basically a plasma device, but there is not thermonuclear reactions. The gas propellant is simply heated by RF heating and passed through a...
  27. A

    What are the lessons learned from nuclear reactor design and analysis?

    I have been reading a bit lately about project orion and the NERVA project. Project orion seems like such a crazy project that you can't help to love it:approve: I am not suprised it got shut down however. But is there any research going on anymore in the states or any other country that is...
  28. Astronuc

    Can You Learn Thermodynamics and Propulsion with These Course Notes?

    I hope this stays around. http://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/SPRING/propulsion/notes/notes.html Texts referenced in the course notes. VN: H.C. Van Ness, Understanding Thermodynamics, Dover Publications, 1983; and SB&VW: R. E. Sonntag, C. Borgnakke, and G. J. Van Wylen, Fundamentals of...
  29. R

    Fundamentals of air propulsion?

    Can anyone break down the fundamentals of air propulsion? thank you. I also have a few other questions.
  30. B

    Pulse jets and ram jets as part of my course on jet propulsion

    i was reading about pulse jets and ram jets as part of my course on jet propulsion. all i was told was that they are aero-thermo-dynamic-ducts. couldn't understand what they mean. checked google, but the articles i got were vague. could someone explain what aero-thermo-dynamic-ducts are?
  31. J

    How High Can a Model Rocket Go with a Specific Impulse of 100 Seconds?

    The height that a model rocket launched from Earth can reach can be estemated by assuming that the burn time is short compared to the total flight time, so for most of the flight the rocket is in free-fall. (This estimate neglects the burm time in calculations of both time and displacement. )...
  32. A

    Relative No-emission Propulsion

    Following Einstein we know, that when the speed of mattery is about the “c” vallue, the further increase of speed causes “great” increase of mass. In our system the substance (mattery) is moving round around the circle with the vellocities close to “c” and acceleration “a”. Additionally this...
  33. S

    Thorium Propulsion: The Possibilities for Aerospace Craft

    There's been another small spate of news articles in the past couple of weeks about Thorium, due to its safer and more environmentally friendly characteristics in comparison to Uranium. I'm wondering if there has been any fresh progress or advancements in the developmental research of Thorium...
  34. R

    Propulsion System Design: Calculating Engine Inlet Area

    Propulsion system! I am writing a report designing a propulsion system, ie a turbine to power an apu, and have various requirements such as a power demand for the apu of 400kW so the turbo-jet needs to have 421.05kN of power. i have various other information regarding the effiency's of the...
  35. T

    Exploring Magnetohydrodynamic Water Propulsion for Silent Submarines

    Submarine propulsion Regarding nuclear powered submarines, they produce electric energy through the use of a generator that is being powered by steam from a “boiler” –for simplicity- Would this energy be enough to power a submarine using magnetohydrodynamic water propulsion? Using...
  36. O

    Superconductors usable as propulsion devices?

    If I were able to get a particle with mass to tunnel through a superconductor (for the sake of having a point, a long, thin, cylindrical one), would that mass's travel through the superconductor have the same equal-but-opposite-reaction effect as the same mass if it were accelerated to such...
  37. T

    Journal/References for MHD Propulsion

    hi i would like some journals/references on "MHD Propulsion" please try to get it in ebook format...if not possible nytin else will do but please avoid asking me to buy it. thanx
  38. Astronuc

    What is the Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics and Propulsion?

    Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/short.html Beginner's Guide to Compressible Aerodynamics These pages are intended principally for undergraduates who are studying transonic and supersonic flows...
  39. W

    How Does Rocket Propulsion Calculation Work with Changing Mass?

    Hello, I am not understanding how the book got it's answer from the supplied rocket propulsion example. "A rocket moving in free space has a speed of 3.0 x 10^3 m/s relative to the Earth. Its engines are turned on, and fuel is ejected in a direction opposite the rocket's motion at a speed...
  40. A

    Building an Ion Propulsion Unit At Home: Possible?

    i have had an idea for a few years and am finally starting to go forward with it.. i need to know if it is possible to build an ion propulsion unit at home. being that it is on the Earth and not in space does it need a defuser? can it be made to run on 110v? i don't need it huge to start. i just...
  41. I

    Inertial Mass Propulsion? Feedback wanted.

    I have had this idea in my head for years and I want to know once and for all if it will work or not. I understand that a flywheel gains in mass when it spins. If this is true, is my thinking below correct? Any feedback would be appreciated! Inertial Mass Propulsion: I am going to try to...
  42. R

    Is Exiting Nitrogen in Jet Engines Contributing to Thrust?

    In the general thrust equation in order for a jet engine, either turbojet, ramjet, or scramjet, to produce net thrust the speed of the exiting exhaust has to be greater than the incoming speed of the air flow. Then the net thrust is the mass exhaust rate times exhaust speed minus the air mass...
  43. L

    Why would jumping on a shoe box boat cause odd propulsion?

    Im standing on a shoe box shaped boat, I put myself on the front of it and start jumping Will i be propelled backwards of forwards, why? Thanks in advance
  44. G

    Size of a 20MW Synchronous Motor for Ship Propulsion

    Does anyone know how big a 20MW synchronous motor would be to drive a ship's propellor?
  45. J

    Rocket Propulsion: Boosting 3.10T to 10K m/s

    A rocket for use in deep space is to have the capability of boosting a total load (payload plus the rocket frame and engine) of 3.10 metric tons to a speed of 10 000 m/s. (a) It has an engine and fuel designed to produce an exhaust speed of 2800 m/s. How much fuel plus oxidizer is required...
  46. B

    Where Can I Find Current Research on Breakthrough Propulsion Physics?

    First-time poster here, so I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, or if it has already been discussed. In other words, go easy on me……… I’m interested in advances in physics that can be used as new power sources for spacecraft . NASA had a program, called the Breakthrough Propulsion...
  47. Astronuc

    A Theoretical Treatment of Technical Risk in Modern Propulsion System Design

    http://www.asdl.gatech.edu/teams/prop/roth_pub/roth_thesis.pdf (use save target as if speed limited) PhD Dissertation Bryce Alexander Roth
  48. Astronuc

    Space propulsion breakthrough: new spacecraft ion engine tested

    http://www.physorg.com/news9786.html :smile:
  49. e-realmz

    How does rocket propulsion used by space shuttles work?

    Jet propulsion in space? If space is "nothing" then how does rocket propulsion used by space shuttles work? What exactly do those blasts push off of?
  50. A

    Ftl - Heim QT based propulsion models

    http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=16902006 what?
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