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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Also called specific thrust.

Origin of specific impulse

First recorded in 1945–50

Words nearby specific impulse

specific heat, specific heat capacity, specific humidity, specific immune globulin, specific immunity, specific impulse, specific name, specific opsonin, specific parasite, specific performance, specific reaction
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

British Dictionary definitions for specific impulse

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 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012