specific impulse
nounDefinition of specific impulse
: the thrust produced per unit rate of consumption of the propellant that is usually expressed in pounds of thrust per pound of propellant used per second and that is a measure of the efficiency of a rocket engine
Examples of specific impulse in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But what was the specific impulse that led you to tell Berg’s story? — Andrew Silow-carroll, sun-sentinel.com, "Moe Berg’s life as ballplayer and spy presented in documentary," 4 June 2019 Liquid hydrogen, by contrast, has a really high specific impulse. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "After a decade of testing, propylene rocket fuel may be ready for prime time," 25 Sep. 2018 Never used before in a larger engine, propylene has useful properties of higher density and specific impulse that will give Vector's small rocket more performance. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Rocket Report: SpaceX gets Moon launches, South Korean rocket, BE-4 wins," 28 Sep. 2018 Cold gas thrusters can get to a specific impulse of about 70 seconds. — Loren Grush, The Verge, "Here’s how Elon Musk might use rocket thrusters on the new Tesla Roadster," 16 June 2018 This measures the thrust generated by any given amount of fuel, and liquid engines have a higher specific impulse than solids, which explains a great deal of their attraction. — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "The Rocket Fuel Rivalry Shaping the Future of Spaceflight," 10 Apr. 2018 An electric propulsion engine—such as a Hall thruster that ionizes xenon gas—has a high specific impulse, as much as 10 times that of NTP. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "NASA's Nuclear Thermal Engine Is a Blast From the Cold War Past," 21 Feb. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'specific impulse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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