Q&A

Can the speed of a rocket exceed the exhaust speed of the fuel?

Can the speed of a rocket exceed the exhaust speed of the fuel?

Yes, the rocket speed can exceed the exhaust speed of the gases it ejects. The thrust of the rocket does not depend on the relative speeds of the gases and rocket, it simply depends on conservation of momentum.

How much fuel would it take to accelerate to the speed of light?

If you wanted to accelerate to 0.866 times the speed of light (about 260 million meters per second), you’d need a hundred thousand trillion (100 000 000 000 000 000) joules of energy. That’s the equivalent of 2.5 billion (2 500 000 000) liters of gasoline.

Can a spaceship accelerate to the speed of light?

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Due to the distorting effects of the theory of relativity on space and time, you can keep accelerating at a constant acceleration forever, and yet never hit the speed of light.

Can a rocket reach the speed of light?

So will it ever be possible for us to travel at light speed? Based on our current understanding of physics and the limits of the natural world, the answer, sadly, is no. So, light-speed travel and faster-than-light travel are physical impossibilities, especially for anything with mass, such as spacecraft and humans.

Is there any limit on speed attained by rocket?

For a rocket to climb into low Earth orbit, it must achieve a speed in excess of 28,000 km per hour. Attaining space flight speeds requires the rocket engine to achieve the greatest thrust possible in the shortest time.

How long would you have to accelerate at 1G to reach light speed?

From Earth’s frame of reference, if you’re accelerating at a constant rate of 1 g, then you’d reach near the speed of light in about a year, having covered about 0.5 light-years in distance.

How long to accelerate to the speed of light at 1G?

It would take 353,7 days of constant 1G (9,81 m/s^2) acceleration to reach the speed of light. In that time you would travel 4,58 billion Km. You can’t reach the speed of light.

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What limits acceleration in space?

Nothing can travel faster than 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second). Only massless particles, including photons, which make up light, can travel at that speed. It’s impossible to accelerate any material object up to the speed of light because it would take an infinite amount of energy to do so.

Can a rocket accelerate in space?

The simple act of accelerating something in a particular direction (the rifle bullet or hot gases from a rocket exhaust) creates an equal force acting in the opposite direction (Newton’s 3rd law). This reaction is what propels a spaceship upwards or through space, regardless of the presence of ground or atmosphere.

What is the maximum speed a rocket can achieve?

A: NASA’s Juno spacecraft is the fastest man-made object ever recorded, at roughly 365,000 km/h (165,000 mph) as it approached Jupiter. The fastest launch velocity belongs to New Horizons, which went 58,000 km/h (36,000 mph) .

How does the acceleration of a rocket depend on force?

Acceleration is force divided by mass. Force is the thrust from the rockets. This stays pretty much constant throughout the launch, at least as far as each stage is concerned. Fuel has mass. As fuel is burned, mass decreases so with force constant acceleration increases.

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What is the final speed of a rocket burning 10000 kph?

If the rocket burns all of the fuel while accelerating in a straight line, the final speed would be 244148.9 km/hour. This is more than twice the value naively obtained by multiplying your 10000 km/hour by ten. Share Improve this answer

What is the exhaust velocity of a rocket engine?

This means your rocket has an exhaust velocity of 29.45 km/s (106033 km/hr), which puts it in the class of a typical ion propulsion engine. If the rocket burns all of the fuel while accelerating in a straight line, the final speed would be 244148.9 km/hour.

What happens to acceleration when fuel is burned?

As fuel is burned, mass decreases so with force constant acceleration increases. This is actually true of any vehicle burning fuel, the main difference is that on a rocket fuel makes up a very large proportion of the launch mass, so the acceleration change is very dramatic.