What is the different between ordanary fule and rocket fule?
Answers
The Difference Between Rocket Fuel
What is the difference between Fuel and propellant? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Robert Frost, Instructor and Flight Controller at NASA, on Quora:
A fuel is a substance that can burn in the presence of oxygen. An oxidizer is a source of oxygen. A propellant is the combination of fuel and oxidizer. It is the chemical mixture that is burned to provide propulsion.
The three most common rocket propellants are liquid (hypergolic), liquid (non-hypergolic), and solid rocket.
For hypergolic fuels, these two substances are so reactive that just coming into contact with each other causes them to ignite. For non-hypergolic fuels, an ignition source is provided.
Pumps inject fuel and oxidizer into a combustion chamber where they burn, producing hot, rapidly expanding gases that are looking for a way out.
Solid rockets have a single substance that is pre-mixed to contain fuel and oxidizer. That substance is cut or molded into shapes and thicknesses appropriate for the types of burns the rocket needs to perform. That material is put inside the rocket fuselage. Sometimes it is bonded to the sides, sometimes it isn't. And then ignition is provided in the center of the fuselage so that the fuel burns from the inside out.
Answer:
A fuel is a substance that can burn in the presence of oxygen. An oxidizer is a source of oxygen. A propellant is the combination of fuel and oxidizer. It is the chemical mixture that is burned to provide propulsion.