Page 12 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

How launcher engines and motors work
combustion chamber A vessel inside an engine or motor where the fuel components mix and are set on fire, that is, they are burned (combusted).
gimbals A framework that allows anything inside it to move in a variety of directions.
gyroscope A device in which a rapidly spinning wheel is held in a frame in such a way that it can rotate in any direction. The momentum of the wheel means that the gyroscope retains its position even when the frame is tilted.
laws of motion Formulated by Sir Isaac Newton, they describe the forces that act on a moving object.
reaction An opposition to a force.
 Detail of an engine.
enormous thrust. By controlling the exhausts using gyroscopes and cradles called gimbals, it is possible to steer them.
The mixing of fuel and oxidizer happens
at such a rate that inside the combustion chamber there is something similar to an explosion. Keeping control of the rate of
fuel burning is a difficult problem. You need
to control the rate at which fuels enter the combustion chamber and turn to gases, not just let the liquids or solids run together
under gravity. So, you need to pump the
gases and design pumps that will deliver huge amounts of gas very quickly. To make this
even more efficient, liquid fuels are first mixed and pressurized before they reach the main combustion chamber. There they burn to create a high-pressure and high-speed stream of hot gases that flow through a nozzle at speeds of 160,000 km/hr.
Space engines are reaction engines. They work by sending gases in one direction and benefiting from the reaction that happens as a result.
To understand this, think about inflating
a balloon and then letting go of it. The gas in the balloon is under pressure. It is released through a small opening that makes the gases move as fast as possible. The movement of the balloon occurs because, as Newton’s laws of motion state, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The gases expand and move away from the balloon. This sets
up an equal and opposite (reaction) thrust in the balloon, making it move in the opposite direction from the gases—whether in the atmosphere or in space.
By burning the propellants and forming gases that are expelled from the engines or motors at high speed, launchers develop
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