Momentum as a function of temperature

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the relationship between momentum, pressure, and temperature in a rocket utilizing a pressurized ideal gas as propellant. When the gas is heated to nine times its initial temperature at constant volume, the pressure increases by a factor of nine. However, the exhaust velocity, which is derived from the de Laval rocket nozzle principles, increases only by a factor of three, leading to a proportional increase in momentum. This is due to the mathematical relationship where exhaust velocity is proportional to the square root of temperature.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of ideal gas laws
  • Familiarity with the de Laval rocket nozzle principles
  • Knowledge of momentum and its mathematical relationships
  • Basic thermodynamics concepts
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the ideal gas law and its applications in rocket propulsion
  • Study the mathematical derivation of exhaust velocity from temperature in rocket nozzles
  • Explore the principles of thermodynamics related to gas behavior under varying temperatures
  • Examine real-world applications of momentum calculations in aerospace engineering
USEFUL FOR

Aerospace engineers, physicists, and students studying thermodynamics and rocket propulsion will benefit from this discussion.

Jedi_Sawyer
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I think that the momentum achieved by a rocket in a vacuum with no gravitational forcec to consider, that uses a pressurized ideal gas as it's only propellant, stored in a chamber of fixed volume before being rocketed away. will achieve a final momentum related to the pressure and volume of the gas.

Now if I heat the gas inside the rocket so that it is on the absolute temperature scale nine times as hot as before, since the volume is constant that would mean that the pressure increased by a factor of nine I think.

My question is under these ideal conditions what will the mathematical change be between the first case of the gas at when the gas is heated to be nine. Why?
 
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For my example above of a gas being heated so that the temperature goes up by a factor of 9, I think the exhaust velocity will only go up by a factor of 3, so that for any given amount of propellant the momentum only goes up by a factor of three. I say this as the formula in the Wikipedia article about the de Laval rocket nozzle has a formula for computing the exhaust velocity and it shows it going at the sq root of the temerature.
 

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