Propulsion

Propellers, jet engines and rockets. Producing thrust efficiently: momentum and thermodynamics foundations, propulsive efficiency, compressors and turbines, the Brayton cycle and gas-turbine engines, and rocket propulsion with staging.

• Momentum — Moving fluid carries momentum; changing its speed or direction creates force. Learn the momentum equation for control volumes, jet forces on plates and vanes, pipe-bend reactions, thrust and water hammer basics.
• Laws of Thermodynamics — The zeroth, first, second and third laws define temperature, energy conservation, the direction of processes and absolute zero. Learn energy balances for closed and open (steady-flow) systems and what the second law forbids.
• Propulsion Fundamentals: Thrust & Efficiency — Every propulsion system accelerates a fluid backwards. Learn the momentum thrust equation (with pressure thrust), propulsive, thermal and overall efficiency, why big slow jets are efficient, propellers (actuator-disk theory, advance ratio, efficiency), specific thrust and specific fuel consumption, and the propulsion families from pistons to scramjets — with Python comparing jet velocities.
• Compressors — Compressors raise gas pressure. Learn reciprocating, screw, centrifugal and axial types, isentropic and polytropic work, efficiency, multi-staging with intercooling, free-air delivery and compressed-air system design.
• Turbines — Turbines extract energy from flowing fluids. Learn impulse vs reaction turbines, hydraulic turbines (Pelton, Francis, Kaplan), steam and gas turbines, power and efficiency, specific speed and turbine selection.
• Thermodynamic Cycles — Ideal cycles model real engines and power plants. Learn the Otto (petrol), Diesel, Brayton (gas turbine) and Rankine (steam) cycles, their P–v behaviour, efficiency formulas and the design levers that improve them.
• Gas Turbine Engines: Turbojet, Turbofan & Turboprop — Inside the jet engine. Learn the Brayton cycle, engine stations (inlet, fan, compressor, combustor, turbine, nozzle), spool configurations, bypass ratio, compressor and turbine aerodynamics, surge and stall margin, combustor design and emissions, turbine cooling and materials, afterburners, turboprops and turboshafts, engine performance and FADEC control — with Python for ideal cycle efficiency and specific work.
• Rocket Propulsion & Launch Vehicles — Leaving Earth. Learn the rocket thrust equation, specific impulse and exhaust velocity, the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, mass ratio and staging, delta-v needed for orbit (with gravity and drag losses), nozzle expansion and altitude effects, liquid (bipropellant cycles), solid, hybrid and electric propulsion, and reusability — with Python for single- and two-stage Δv.