specific impulse
noun Rocketry.
a measure, usually in seconds, of the efficiency with which a rocket engine utilizes its propellants, equal to the number of pounds of thrust produced per pound of propellant burned per second.
the specific impulse that a given combination of propellants would produce in an ideal rocket engine providing complete combustion, no friction losses, and no lateral expansion of the exhaust.
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Nearby words
- specific heat,
- specific heat capacity,
- specific humidity,
- specific immune globulin,
- specific immunity,
- specific name,
- specific opsonin,
- specific parasite,
- specific performance,
- specific reaction
Origin of specific impulse
First recorded in 1945–50
Also called specific thrust.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
specific impulse
noun
the ratio of the thrust produced by a rocket engine to the rate of fuel consumption: it has units of time and is the length of time that unit weight of propellant would last if used to produce one unit of thrust continuously
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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