Ion Thrusters I: The Electric Field. You and your team are designing a new propulsion engine that ejects xenon (Xe) ions in one direction, causing a spacecraft to accelerate in the opposite direction, in accordance with the conservation of linear momentum and the impulse-momentum theorem. This is exactly what happens when a rocket engine expels high velocity particles when burning fuel, except that in the case of the ion drive the ions are accelerated with an electric field. In this process, Xe gas atoms are ionized so that they each acquire a net charge of +e. They are then subjected to an electric field, which accelerates and ejects the ions from the engine. The final step is to infuse the ejected ion beam with electrons in order to neutralize the ions so that they no longer electrically interact with the spacecraft, or with each other. In the thruster you are designing, assume that the Xe atoms accelerate from rest in a uniform electric field over a distance of 0.110 m before they are ejected with a velocity of 55.0 km/s relative to the engine. (a) What is the acceleration of the Xe ions? (b) What must be the magnitude of the electric field such that the ejection velocity is 55.0 km/s relative to the engine? (c) If Xe ions are ejected at a rate of 9.05 × 10-6 kg/s, what is the average magnitude of the thrust (i.e., the force) provided by the ion drive? The mass of a Xe ion is 2.18 × 10-25 kg. (a) Number i Units (b) Number i Units (c) Number i Units > >

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Chapter1: Units, Trigonometry. And Vectors
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Ion Thrusters I: The Electric Field. You and your team are designing a new propulsion engine that ejects xenon (Xe)
ions in one direction, causing a spacecraft to accelerate in the opposite direction, in accordance with the
conservation of linear momentum and the impulse-momentum theorem. This is exactly what happens when a rocket
engine expels high velocity particles when burning fuel, except that in the case of the ion drive the ions are
accelerated with an electric field. In this process, Xe gas atoms are ionized so that they each acquire a net charge of
+e. They are then subjected to an electric field, which accelerates and ejects the ions from the engine. The final step
is to infuse the ejected ion beam with electrons in order to neutralize the ions so that they no longer electrically
interact with the spacecraft, or with each other. In the thruster you are designing, assume that the Xe atoms
accelerate from rest in a uniform electric field over a distance of 0.110 m before they are ejected with a velocity of
55.0 km/s relative to the engine. (a) What is the acceleration of the Xe ions? (b) What must be the magnitude of the
electric field such that the ejection velocity is 55.0 km/s relative to the engine? (c) If Xe ions are ejected at a rate of
9.05 × 10-6 kg/s, what is the average magnitude of the thrust (i.e., the force) provided by the ion drive? The mass of a
Xe ion is 2.18 × 10-25 kg.
(a) Number
i
Units
(b) Number i
Units
(c) Number i
Units
>
>
Transcribed Image Text:Ion Thrusters I: The Electric Field. You and your team are designing a new propulsion engine that ejects xenon (Xe) ions in one direction, causing a spacecraft to accelerate in the opposite direction, in accordance with the conservation of linear momentum and the impulse-momentum theorem. This is exactly what happens when a rocket engine expels high velocity particles when burning fuel, except that in the case of the ion drive the ions are accelerated with an electric field. In this process, Xe gas atoms are ionized so that they each acquire a net charge of +e. They are then subjected to an electric field, which accelerates and ejects the ions from the engine. The final step is to infuse the ejected ion beam with electrons in order to neutralize the ions so that they no longer electrically interact with the spacecraft, or with each other. In the thruster you are designing, assume that the Xe atoms accelerate from rest in a uniform electric field over a distance of 0.110 m before they are ejected with a velocity of 55.0 km/s relative to the engine. (a) What is the acceleration of the Xe ions? (b) What must be the magnitude of the electric field such that the ejection velocity is 55.0 km/s relative to the engine? (c) If Xe ions are ejected at a rate of 9.05 × 10-6 kg/s, what is the average magnitude of the thrust (i.e., the force) provided by the ion drive? The mass of a Xe ion is 2.18 × 10-25 kg. (a) Number i Units (b) Number i Units (c) Number i Units > >
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