• Question: what happens if you have too much heat than rocket fuel

    Asked by abrahamsonc to Rochelle, Michaela, Camilla, Beth, Adrian on 27 Jan 2016.
    • Photo: Camilla Weiss

      Camilla Weiss answered on 27 Jan 2016:


      Most rockets work by burning fuel in order to create enough energy to get it to space. You could say that the hotter the fuel burns the more energy you’ll get and the faster or more powerful the rocket will be – but there is a limit. Some rocket engines can see temperatures of well over 3500 degrees Celsius which is often higher than the melting point of the materials being used to make them! That means you have to be careful to make your rockets out of materials which can either stand the heat or have some kind of protection, otherwise you rocket might break apart before it gets to space.

      I’m not sure if this entirely answered your question but let us know if not!

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