Lectures in Classical Mechanics- I, Compiled by Dr. Abhijit Kar Gupta, kg.abhi@gmail.

com

Rocket Motion
A rocket is a system whose mass is decreasing while its velocity is increasing. The ejected gas moves on the backward direction at some relative velocity with respect to the rocket. The equation for rocket motion (the moving rocket and ejecting gas) can be derived from considering the momentum change. Consider that the rocket has a mass and that is moving a velocity at any instant. As the rocket moves, the fuel is burnt and the mass is decreased by while its velocity is increased by .

Momentum at any time

: : ) ( ), where is the

Momentum at a later time

( )( relative velocity of the ejecting gas w.r.t. the rocket.

[Note: If actual velocity of fuel w.r.t. the fixed system is , we have Change in momentum in time, ( )( ) is ( )

[Neglecting the term

for 2nd order of smallness] (1)

The above is the equation of motion of a rocket. If the Rocket is moving horizontally, and no external force is acting on it, we can write For a Rocket moving upwards, we consider the force of gravity. Thus we write,

Lectures in Classical Mechanics- I, Compiled by Dr. Abhijit Kar Gupta, kg.abhi@gmail.com

Let us solve the equation for horizontal motion i.e., when there is no influence of gravity. (2) [Note: -ve sign means, mass is decreased when velocity is increased.] Integrating, [Consider const., the gas exits at a const. velocity] (3)

If the fuel burns at a constant rate,

Mass of Rocket body only Mass of fuel Mass of rocket at any time

Thus,

(4)
(1 /),

Total time taken to burn out all the fuel

When

(after all the fuel exhausted),

For additional interest, we can check graphically how mass goes down with time:

Lectures in Classical Mechanics- I, Compiled by Dr. Abhijit Kar Gupta, kg.abhi@gmail.com

From (3), (1 At , (1 ) ) (5)

(1

] .

Note that the velocity can be maximized by manipulating the ratio, Position can be obtained by integrating (5), Now consider the integral, Put 1 1 (1 ) (1 )

[ ]

[ *(1 *(1 ) ) (1 (1

] ) ) (1 + ) 1+

Lectures in Classical Mechanics- I, Compiled by Dr. Abhijit Kar Gupta, kg.abhi@gmail.com

( ( ( ( ) ) ) (1

(1 (1 )

) )

(1

(6)

If we now also consider gravitational pull, when the rocket is moving upwards, we have

So it follows like before, (1 Thus we get, ( ) ( ) (1 ) . (7) )

# Problem For a light rocket, the relative velocity of escaping gas w.r.t. the rocket is / and the th mass loss per sec. equals to 1/1 of the initial mass. Show that in order to reach escape velocity, the ratio of the weight of the fuel to the empty rocket must be around 270.

Ans.

Lectures in Classical Mechanics- I, Compiled by Dr. Abhijit Kar Gupta, kg.abhi@gmail.com

We used,

, where

initial mass.

Consider, Now to approximate for a light rocket, we assume

is the escape velocity. Put 11 m/ m/s We shall get m/s

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