I was planning on building a water-powered rocket. I also wanted to know how high my rocket might go. Could someone help me figure out, how to calculate thrust produced by a rocket engine?
-
$\begingroup$ By water powered, do you mean a rocket where compressed air pushes water out? Start by calculating the energy in the compressed air at the instant of launch. A fraction of this potential energy is what is present in the rocket when it reaches peak altitude. There will be a lot of losses also which will bring down the peak altitude from the value arrived at using the energy method. $\endgroup$– AJNNov 24, 2021 at 0:35
-
$\begingroup$ @AJN Yes, a rocket in which compressed air pushes it water out. Can you please use some numericals in the rocket equation? Thank you in advance $\endgroup$– Ishaan ManishNov 24, 2021 at 0:58
-
$\begingroup$ You have provided no numerical data in your question. $\endgroup$– Organic MarbleNov 24, 2021 at 18:31
1 Answer
If you know the mass flow rate q and the exhaust velocity v, the thrust f is the product of q and v.
If the engine is running in a test stand, measurement of the thrust might be easier than to measure both mass flow rate and exhaust velocity.
For the measurement of thrust look at this question.