Lecture 3

Page 1

Left-hand rule

ThuMb = Motion

First Finger= Magnetic Field

SeCond Finger = Current

Right-hand rule

Thumb = Current

Direction of curled fingers = Magnetic field

Magnetic field lines go from north to south

Ion Thrusters:

Accelerate a particle away from device using force (equal and opposite force)

Difficult trying to do this efficiently

Throws out lots of mass slowly - higher efficiency

For a given power consumption, higher thrusts possible are achievable by reducing velocity and increasing the mass flow rates of ejected propellants.