4262: Rockets and Mission Analysis Name: _______________________

Concept Quiz #2

It may be shown that the thrust of a rocket scales with area and weight scales with
volume, both based on the same characteristic length scale, L. This is expressed below as:

Thrust, T T scales with the throat area, At T ~ At ~ L2

Weight, W W scales with the volume, V W ~ V ~ L3

1. If we double T by increasing the characteristic length scale, how does T/W vary?

T/W ~ 1/L ~ 1/T½ ~ T-½

Double T, T/W changes by 1/2½

2. If we double T by increasing the characteristic length scale, how does W vary?

W ~ T3/2

2(3/2) = 2.83

W goes up by factor of 2.83