ed. The propellant most often used is 132Xe (xenon with atomic weight of 132), that is positively ionized so that it is missing two electrons. An example ion propulsion engine accelerates the xenon ions from a near-zero starting velocity through a potential difference of ΔV= 301 volts in the rocket chamber. If the engine expends δm= 16 kg of xenon ions over 1 hour, by how much δv _______[in km/s] does it change the velocity of a m= 592 kg spacecraft?
Ion propulsion rockets, like conventional rockets, work by conservation of linear momentum: fuel is expelled in one direction at a high relative velocity, and the rocket moves in the opposite direction with the total momentum of rocket-plus-fuel system unchanged. The propellant most often used is 132Xe (xenon with atomic weight of 132), that is positively ionized so that it is missing two electrons. An example ion propulsion engine accelerates the xenon ions from a near-zero starting velocity through a potential difference of ΔV= 301 volts in the rocket chamber. If the engine expends δm= 16 kg of xenon ions over 1 hour, by how much δv _______[in km/s] does it change the velocity of a m= 592 kg spacecraft?
Hint: first use conservation of energy to calculate the escape velocity of the xenon ions: equate their change in kinetic energy to the work done on them by the electric field.
(the answer to this question is 0.79, however, I still want to see the solution)
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