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Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use.[1] Rocket engines work by action and reaction. Rocket engines push rockets forwards simply by throwing their exhaust backwards extremely fast.
Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th century China.[2] Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology of the Space Age, including setting foot on the moon.
Rockets are used for fireworks, weaponry, ejection seats,…show more content… This formulation is now used in Black Powder Rocket Motors. Rocket propellant technology did not advance until the end of the 19th century, by which time smokeless powder had been developed, originally for use in firearms and artillery pieces. Smokeless powders and related compounds have seen use as double-base propellants.
Description
Solid propellants (and almost all rocket propellants) consist of an oxidizer and a fuel. In the case of gunpowder, the fuel is charcoal, the oxidizer is potassium nitrate, and sulphur serves as a catalyst. (Note: sulphur is not a true catalyst in gunpowder as it is consumed to a great extent into a variety of reaction products such as K2S. The sulphur acts mainly as a sensitizer lowering threshold of ignition.) During the 1950s and 60s researchers in the United States developed what is now the standard high-energy solid rocket fuel, Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant (APCP). This mixture is primarily ammonium perchlorate powder (an oxidizer), combined with fine aluminium powder (a fuel), held together in a base of PBAN or HTPB (rubber-like fuels). The mixture is formed as a liquid, and then cast into the correct shape and cured into a rubbery solid.
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Propellant families
Black Powder (BP) Propellants
Composed of charcoal (fuel), potassium nitrate (oxidizer), and sulfur
