PHYS 121 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-11: Nuclear Reactor, 30 Foot Fall, Ap Physics
Document Summary
Questions: the concept of conservation of momentum is described as; moving something away from me will push me in the opposite direction. This is what fuel is for a spacecraft. Fuel is heavy, and in order to move the fuel, you need to carry more fuel. But in order to carry the fuel used for carrying the first set of fuel, you need more fuel. This simply repeats and repeats: as discussed in the previous question, in order to move, you must push something in the opposite direction. You have a variety of things you can push in order to move yourself at different speeds. On the topic of space travel, there are pros and cons to each decision. The smartest thing to use are light objects moving at very fast rates. Hydrogen is the lightest known atom, and when liquid hydrogen is heated up, it will produce very fast moving steam (10km per hour).
