What type of rocket fuel is combined with liquid oxygen?

The petroleum used as rocket fuel is a type of highly refined kerosene, called RP-1 in the United States. Petroleum fuels are usually used in combination with liquid oxygen as the oxidizer.

How are rocket propellants classified?

Propellants are classified according to their state – liquid, solid, or hybrid. In a liquid propellant rocket, the fuel and oxidizer are stored in separate tanks, and are fed through a system of pipes, valves, and turbopumps to a combustion chamber where they are combined and burned to produce thrust.

What do you mean by rocket propellants?

Rocket propellant is the reaction mass of a rocket. This reaction mass is ejected at the highest achievable velocity from a rocket engine to produce thrust. The energy required can either come from the propellants themselves, as with a chemical rocket, or from an external source, as with ion engines.

Why is hydrogen used as a fuel in rocket propellants?

Liquid hydrogen fuel has many benefits, including its low molecular weight and high energy output when burned together with liquid oxygen. Hydrogen also provides low-density liquid fuel for navigation thrusters in orbit. The main engine of the space shuttle used liquid hydrogen fuel.

What are the two general classifications of liquid propellants?

You will remember that there are two general classifications of liquid propellants: bipropellant and monopropellant. When the oxidizers and fuels are separated, we refer to the two as a bipropellant.

What is used as a rocket propellant?

Most liquid chemical rockets use two separate propellants: a fuel and an oxidizer. Typical fuels include kerosene, alcohol, hydrazine and its derivatives, and liquid hydrogen. Many others have been tested and used. Oxidizers include nitric acid, nitrogen tetroxide, liquid oxygen, and liquid fluorine.

What are propellants used for?

A propellant is a material that is used to move an object by applying a motive force. This may or may not involve a chemical reaction. It may be a gas, liquid, plasma, or, before the chemical reaction, a solid. Common chemical propellants consist of a fuel, like gasoline, jet fuel and rocket fuel, and an oxidizer.

What are the two types of propellants?