Lesson 1 : Introduction to Rocket Propulsion
Topics/Contents:
History of Rocket Evolution
Newtons Laws of Motion, Universal Law of Gravitation, and Escape Velocity
Rocket Principle and The Rocket Equation
Mass Ratio of a Rocket
Desirable Parameters of a Rocket
Propulsive Efficiency and Performance parameters of a Rocket
Classification of rocket engines and their operating principle
Thermal/Chemical Rocket Engines
Nuclear Rocket Engines
Electric Rocket Propulsion
Staging and Clustering of Rockets
Aim/Objective: What I want students to learn?
The students should get aware and appreciate the evolution of rocket technology, the fundamentals principles of rocket operation, the performance parameters of rocket engines, the types of rocket engines, and the staging of rockets.
Rationale: Why this is useful to them?
The general awareness of the evolution of technology, basic principles, performance parameters, types of rocket engines and staging of rockets are required for students to provide solutions to similar problems in the particular scenario, and to start thinking about design of rocket motors.
History of Rocket Evolution
Reading Material: Brief History of Rockets
Newton's Laws of Motion and Universal Law of Gravitation
Newton's First Law of Motion:
"An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at a constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force"
Newton’s first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. This tendency to resist changes in a state of motion is inertia. If all the external forces cancel each other out, then there is no net force acting on the object. If all the external forces cancel each other out, then there is no net force acting on the object. If there is no net force acting on the object, then the object will maintain a constant velocity.
Newton's Second Law of Motion:
"The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied"
Newton's second law defines a force to be equal to change in momentum (mass times velocity) per change in time. Momentum is defined to be the mass m of an object times its velocity V.
Newton's Third Law of Motion:
"Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first"
Universal Law of Gravitation:
"Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation states that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with force directly proportional to the product of the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them"
