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This is
the main set of statistics output in
numerical form from the computer model. It is
broken down into six areas of interest - a
general set of results and then results
pertaining to each part of the flight.
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General
- This is just a set of three
commonly required results: |
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Maximum
Height - This is measured
either in feet or in metres
(dependent upon your selection when
you started running the program) and
represents the furthest away from the
ground that the rocket got during the
flight. The point at which the rocket
attains this height is known as the
Apogee; |
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Maximum
Vertical Velocity - This is
the greatest upward velocity (not
speed) that the rocket attained. It
is usually during the water part of
the thrust but sometimes occurs in
the air part and, even less
frequently, during the launch tube
part of the flight; and, |
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Maximum
Acceleration - This is the
greatest acceleration of the rocket
during the flight. If you are looking
at putting equipment on board - such
as a camera or accelerometer - it
should be able to cope with this
value. |
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Launch Tube
- This section deals with the part of
the launch while it is on the launch
tube. If no launch tube was used,
this section is greyed out: |
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Time to get
to end of Launch Tube - This
is the time from the release of the
rocket to the end of the nozzle
clearing the end of the launch tube; |
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Launch Tube
Impulse - This is the total
impulse from the launch tube -
measured in Newton Seconds - and
contributes to the impulse rating of
the rocket system. It is an
indication of the effect of the
thrust of the launch tube on the
rocket; and, |
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Speed at end
of Launch Tube - This is the
speed (not the velocity) of the
rocket when the end of the rocket's
nozzle has got to the end of the
launch tube. It is measured in the
direction of the launch tube (ie, if
the tube was pointing at an angle of
45 degrees, the speed would be
measured at this angle. To get the
vertical component of this final
speed, ie the vertical velocity,
multiply the speed by the cosine of
the angle of elevation of the
launch). |
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Water Impulse
- These statistics pertain to the
part of flight during which the water
is expelled through the nozzle -
whether that is an open nozzle, a
restricted nozzle or a t-nozzle: |
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Duration of
Thrust - This is the length
of time that the water takes to be
expelled completely, including the
time that the rocket is on the launch
tube. This is because water is being
expelled while the rocket is on the
launch tube either minimally, if the
launch tube is a tight fit and the
water effectively acts only as a
lubricant, or significantly if there
is a large clearance between the
inside of the nozzle and the launch
tube. Note that the computer model
assumes that the course of the rocket
does not change whilst it is on the
launch tube; |
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Height at
end of Thrust - This is the
height above ground that the rocket
is when it has cleared the end of the
launch tube. If the launch angle is
close to horizontal, this will be
little different to the initial
height of the rocket if the tube is
short; |
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Water
Impulse - This is the total
impulse from the water, not including
the impulse from the launch tube -
again, measured in Newton Seconds -
and contributes to the impulse rating
of the rocket system. As with the
Launch Tube Impulse above, it is an
indication of the effect of the
thrust of the water on the rocket; |
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Speed at end
of Water - This is the speed
of the rocket at the end of the water
thrust phase. It is measured along
the axis of the rocket and is not the
vertical velocity of the rocket; and, |
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Temperature
at end of Water - This is
the temperature of the air (or other
gas) inside the rocket at the end of
the water thrust phase. It is
dependent upon the amount of
expansion that it has undergone
during the expulsion of the water,
the initial temperature of the gas
and the gamma of the gas. See Environmental
Parameters for more
details of gamma and other
parameters. |
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Air Impulse
- These statistics refer to the part
of flight after the water, during
which the air escapes from the rocket
providing a little bit of extra
thrust: |
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Air Impulse
- This is calculated from a rather
complicated equation that takes into
account parameters such as initial
temperature, gamma of the gas and so
on. The computer model, for the sake
of simplicity, calculates the total
air impulse and then divides it up
between the number of one millisecond
time slices specified in the Duration
of air impulse parameter on the Rocket
Parameters page in such
a way as to form a triangle with an
integrated value equal to the air
impulse; |
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Speed at end
of Air - This is the speed
of the rocket at the end of the air
thrust phase (giving the air impulse
a definite end means that
calculations can proceed in a
meaningful way - in reality, air is
being pushed out of the nozzle even
after the rocket has touched down
again). It is measured along the axis
of the rocket and is not the vertical
velocity of the rocket; |
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Kinetic
Energy at end of Air - This
is the amount of energy the rocket
has that is due to its speed. KE =
½mv² You will see from the figures
further down the statistics list that
much of this is turned into heat
(heating up the air as it travels);
and, |
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Temperature
at end of Air - This is the
temperature of the air (or other gas)
inside the rocket at the end of the
air thrust phase (the air is now at
atmospheric pressure). As before, it
is dependent upon the amount of
expansion that it has undergone
during the expulsion of the water,
the initial temperature of the gas
and the gamma of the gas. See Environmental
Parameters for more
details of Gamma and other
parameters. This is the coldest that
the gas gets and although it is quite
cold, it quickly warms up again. |
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Apogee
- These statistics refer the
status of the rocket at apogee: |
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Time to
Apogee - This is the amount
of time it takes the rocket to get to
the top of its flight. It is measured
from the time of release of the
rocket; |
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Speed at
Apogee - Although the rocket
has stopped going upwards, it can
still be moving downrange. This
horizontal speed it the value quoted
here. It is of importance for NSA
(Nose Separates at Apogee or NFOAA
Nose Falls Off At Apogee) cones as
these can fail to deploy the
parachute if the pressure on the nose
is too great (caused by the speed at
apogee being too great); |
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Kinetic
Energy at Apogee - This is
entirely due to the rocket's
horizontal speed (it is neither going
up nor down). Again, KE = ½mv²; |
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Potential
Energy at Apogee - The
rocket's potential energy is derived
from its height multiplied by the
force caused by its weight. Energy =
Force x Distance. The Force is
proportional to the gravitational
force; and, |
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Distance
Down-Range at Apogee - This
is the distance downrange that the
rocket has travelled by the time it
has got to apogee. This is normally
significantly over halfway along the
total downrange distance travelled by
the rocket. |
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Touchdown
- These statistics refer to the
status of the rocket at the time it
comes into contact with the ground: |
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Flight Time
- This is the total time from release
to touchdown; |
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Speed at
Touchdown - This is the
speed (not velocity) of the rocket
when it hits the ground. If your
parachute opens late, it will tell
you the speed the chute managed to
slow the rocket down to before it
landed; |
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Vertical
Component at Touchdown - if
not all of the energy of landing is
absorbed on impact and the rocket
effectively `slides' with only the
vertical energy component of the
landing absorbed, you can get that
figure from this statistic; |
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Kinetic
Energy at Touchdown - This
is the total kinetic energy. You will
see, by comparing it with the sum of
the potential and kinetic energy at
apogee and the kinetic energy at the
end of the air impulse that much of
the energy of the flight has been
lost in heating up the air that
surrounds it during its flight. This
remaining energy is absorbed by the
ground and the rocket (causing damage
if it is too great) with the
remainder being transmitted as sound
in the form of a bang or crunch; |
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Touchdown
Angle - This is the angle
that the rocket makes with the ground
(assuming that the ground is
horizontal) when the rocket lands.
Ninety degrees is vertical. Shallower
angles will produce skids which,
while being kinder to the body of the
rocket in that the vertical velocity
is only a small proportion of the
total velocity, will tend to damage
fins; and, |
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Distance
Downrange - This distance
that the rocket travels from the
place that it started the flight.
This assumes that there is no wind. |
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Equivalent
Motor Type - This
gives an idea of the power
capabilities of the complete launch
that is . . . Total
Impulse = launch rod impulse + water
impulse + air impulse.
Impulse is force x time and
therefore the units are Newton
Seconds.
Twice the force for half the time
will give the same impulse although,
using all of the available impulse
too quickly can result in high speeds
and too much loss as drag whereas,
too slowly and it is used up fighting
against gravity - an ideal value lies
in the middle somewhere and this
model can give you a good idea of
where.
For classification purposes, the
total impulse is divided into bands
and given a letter according to the
table on the right.
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Motor Impulse
Classes |
Impulse /Ns |
Class |
I
<= 0.625 |
¼A |
0.625
< I <= 1.25 |
½A |
1.25
< I <= 2.5 |
A |
2.5
< I <= 5 |
B |
5
< I <= 10 |
C |
10
< I <= 20 |
D |
20
< I <= 40 |
E |
40
< I <= 80 |
F |
80
< I <= 160 |
G |
160
< I <= 320 |
H |
320
< I <= 640 |
I |
640
< I <= 1280 |
J |
1280
< I <= 2560 |
K |
2560
< I <= 5120 |
L |
5120
< I |
>L |
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Copyright
©2000 Paul Grosse. All Rights Reserved
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