A rocket has a few parts different from an airplane. One of the main differences is the absence of wings. Rockets utilize fins, which help steer the rocket, while airplanes use wings to generate lift. Rocket fins are more like the rudder of an airplane than the wings. A fighter plane is like a cross between a rocket and an airplane, because of the high amount of thrust generated by the engines.

A pulse jet engine is something students make in college engineering courses under the direction of experienced professors. When I was a student, we made a small Pulse Jet Engine out of clear acrylic that burned bright and loud enough to wear eye and hearing protection.

These types of engines are very simple, as they have no moving parts. They've been used on scram jet engines and other types of supersonic craft.  A pulsejet engine works by alternately pushing out a hot breath of air rearward and then breathing in fresh air to replace it.  They can run on gasoline, diesel, or kerosene. 

The video below is for DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY. Please read text below the video.

Note: Please don't try to make one of these pulse jets! There are videos that will show you how, and not one of them I've found is safe to do without a supervising instructor... in fact, they are highly dangerous because of the types of containers and fuels people have chosen to try. The container must be able to withstand high thermal differentials and pressure changes, and the propellant chosen must not burn too hot or you'll explode the container.


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7 Responses to “Pulse Jet Engine”

  1. To freeze hydrogen, they surround it with liquid helium to reduce its temperature. They then put it in a vacuum chamber to reduce the pressure and to evaporate some of the gas. The temperature of the remaining gas drops to a temperature low enough to free. To freeze oxygen, they surround it with liquid nitrogen to reduce its temperature. They then use the same vacuum process.

  2. Yes you can liquefy oxygen (often this is performed with the air inside of a balloon during a chemical demonstration involving liquid nitrogen.

  3. Why hydrogen? There’s many other ways to do this without hydrogen that go even higher.

    (We do the hydrogen rocket experiment only in our upper level chemistry for high school kids.)

  4. and also how do you think you could make a homemade hydrogen rocket?

  5. how do they freeze the hydrogen and oxygen?

  6. Space Shuttle has the main Orbiter Vehicle (OV) and three main engines, a set of solid rocket boosters and the expendable external tank (ET) containing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

    The Space Shuttle launched vertically with the solid rocket boosters firing with the OV’s three main engines.

    You can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle

  7. how does the shuttle work?