Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Model rockets follow a certain basic trajectory

At first they experience thrust from the engine, which accelerates them upward. Then the engine shuts off and it coasts for a few seconds before the parachute pops out. When the parachute comes out, and if it comes out correctly, it will provide means for a drag force to slow the rocket down while it falls back to the ground. If there wasn’t a parachute to slow it down, it would accelerate really quickly, picking up a lot of velocity, and then when it lands the impact would destroy the rocket. Of course, it would reach a certain terminal velocity due to drag force, but this velocity would still be very large.



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