View Full Version : How is momentum related to a rocket in air
cascoale
Apr 11, 2012, 08:33 PM
Like I am having the Science Fair in my school, we(my team and I) construct a rocket that is impulse with aire, so in summary, they told us we need to know what was "momentum" because it is relate with our project. The problem is that none of my classmates help me, so I am alone, PLEEEEASEE! Help! D: hahahahaha, yeah really I need the help and I return to the question: "How is momentum relate to a rocket¿" and be very expecific please, I do not have physics in my school (until next year) so understand me:S THANK YOU! BE MY Hero !
ebaines
Apr 13, 2012, 08:31 AM
Momentum is a measure of an object's inertia, and mathematically is calculated by multiplying the object's mass by its velocity. Newton discovered that if you apply a force to a body (like a rocket engine pushing on the body of the rocket) for some amount of time the momentum of the object changes:
F \Delta t = \Delta (mv)
The quantity F \Delta t is called "impulse" - think of it as the amount of pushing done on the object. A big force applied for a short period may provide the same impulse as a smaller force applied for a longer period. So from the above you can see that physicists say "the amount of impulse applied equals the change of momentum."
Do you see how this applies to your rocket? The rocket engine provides a force, and depending on how long it operates the rocket experiences a corresponsing change in momentum.
One more bit of complication: for a rocket going straight up the quantity F in the above is actually the sum of the rocket's thrust minus the weight of the rocket. In other words F is the sum of forces acting on the object.
ballengerb1
Apr 13, 2012, 09:19 AM
You may benefit further by googling Newton's Laws. His first law says, in student terms, objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Also read his 2nd and 3rd law.