Derivation of the Rocket Equation

Background
A large fraction (typically ~90%) of the mass of a chemical rocket is propellant, thus
it is important to consider the change in mass of the vehicle as it accelerates. The goal is
to arrive at an epression !hich relates the change in velocity of a rocket to the change in
its mass as !ell as any eternal forces that are acting on it. The analysis is performed
using "e!ton#s $
nd
%a!, &'uation (, !hich states that the time rate of change of
momentum is e'ual to the sum of the forces acting on the system.
( ) V m
dt
d
F

(
The resulting epression is called the )ocket &'uation and it may *e used to relate
specific impulse to the performance of a rocket. There are several !ays to do this *y
applying conservation of momentum, and each tet *ook has its o!n !ay of presenting
this derivation.
Derivation using the Differential Momentum Theorem
The first step is to apply the momentum theorem differentially to a rocket in
accelerating flight. The rocket system is sho!n in the figure *elo! and is the same as that
of +igure (0., of -echanics and Thermodynamics of .ropulsion. /n the figures *elo! the
coordinate system is aligned to the ais of the rocket and parallel to *oth the direction of
flight and the direction of the ehaust velocity. The positive direction is aligned !ith the
direction of flight and gravity acts perpendicular to the &arth#s center and at an angle
relative to the *ody attached coordinate system.
0ystem at t 0ystem ()ocket 1 &pelled -ass) at t 1 dt
The *asic idea is that at time t the rocket has a mass -v and is traveling at a velocity (as
measured *y an inertial o*server) of 2. "ote that *oth -v and 2 are functions of time.
3uring a small time increment, dt, the rocket has epelled a small mass, dm, such that at
time t1dt, the mass of the rocket is -v4dm. The small mass, dm, is epelled from the
rocket at a velocity, 2e, relative to the rocket. The epulsion of this mass during the time
dt leads to an increase in the velocity of the rocket such that 2(t1dt)52(t)1d2. The ta*le
*elo! summari6es each of these terms7
2
-
v
2e
-
v
g
21d2
-
v
4dm
dm
2e
(-
v
4dm)g
(
Table 1: Summary of nitial and !inal System Momentum in nertial !rame
Time Mass "elocity Momentum
Rocket t -v 2 -v2
Rocket #nly t 1 dt -v 4 dm 2 1 d2 (-v 4 dm)(2 1 d2)
E$%elled Mass #nly t 1 dt dm 2 1 d2 4 2e dm(2 1 d2 4 2e)
.ay careful attention to the final velocity and momentum of the epelled mass. The
point to notice is that this velocity must *e epressed in an inertial system. An o*server
stationed on the rocket !ould measure the velocity and momentum of the epelled mass
as 2e and dm2e, respectively. 8o!ever, recall that &'uation ( must *e applied in an
inertial reference frame, such as an o*server located on the ground. An o*server stationed
on the ground !ould measure the velocity of the epelled mass as the vector sum of the
velocity of the rocket (traveling in the positive direction) and the velocity of the epelled
mass (traveling in the negative direction) relative to the rocket at time t1dt as 21d242e..
"o! !rite these terms as the change in momentum of the system from the final state
(t1dt) and the initial state (t), !here the system is the rocket plus incremental mass.
( ) ( ) ( )
e V final
V dV V dm dV V dm M momentum + + + $
V M momentum
V initial
,
dm V dV M momentum momentum
e V initial final

9
&'uation ( can no! *e re!ritten as7
dm V dV M dt F
e v

:
;ompare &'uation : to the result of a control volume analysis and you !ill find that the
result is, of course, identical. <e can no! look at t!o important cases involving the
epressions for the change in momentum of the rocket system.
&ase 1: 'o e$ternal surface or body forces acting on the rocket vehicle
/n this case &'uation : is e'ual to 6ero, and !e can solve this epression for d27
V
e
M
dm V
dV
=
Also note that the incremental mass that !as e>ected from the vehicle may *e !ritten as7
dt
dt
dM
dt m dm
V

?
/n this epression m
is the propellant mass flo! rate, and this epression simply says
that the change in mass of the vehicle during dt (!hich is decreasing, hence the negative
$
sign) is e'ual to the mass of the epelled mass dm. This makes sense from the
conservation of mass standpoint. .utting &'uation ? into &'uation = gives7
V
V
e
V
V
e
M
dM
V dt
dt
dM
M
V
dV
,
_

@
8ere !e again make the assumption that the eit velocity of the e>ected mass is a
constant. This epression is no! ready for integration. The limits of integration on the
left integral are from the initial velocity to the final velocity and the limits of integration
for the epression on the right hand side of the e'ual sign are from the initial mass to the
final mass. This is sho!n *elo!7


f f
M
M V
V
e
V
V
M
dM
V dV
0 0
9

,
_

,
_

final
initial
e
initial
final
e inital final
M
M
V
M
M
V V V V ln ln
(0
The final mass, -final, is sometimes referred to as the *urnout mass, and as its name
implies this is the mass of the rocket !hen all the fuel as *een epended. <e can define a
ratio, ), that relates the initial mass to the final, *urnout mass of the rocket as7
burnout
initial
M
M
R
((
.utting this epression into e'uation @, gives7
R V V
e
ln ($
Again, recall the assumptions on &'uation ($. "o forces (pressure, drag, gravity, etc.) are
acting on the vehicle.
&ase (: E$ternal surface and body forces acting on the rocket vehicle
/n this case !e !ill consider pressure forces of the non4deal epansion, as !ell as
gravity and drag acting on the rocket. The sum of these forces is epressed *elo!7
( ) cos g M D A P P F
V e a e

(,
/ have represented the drag force simply *y 3. The last term on the right hand side is the
gravity term, and a valid 'uestion to ask is7 <hat is the correct mass to use in this termA
As !e shall discuss *elo!, the final result must *e solved *y integration over time and
the mass of the vehicle should *e updated at each time step, dt. Bne could use the mass at
,
the *eginning of the time step (!hich is done a*ove), the end of the time step (-v4dm) or
an average of these t!o, !hich !ould *e epressed as (-v4dmC$). /f the time step is
sufficiently small, accurate results !ill *e o*tained in all cases.
&'uation : holds eactly for the case !ith eternal forces, *ut the difference in
momentum *et!een the initial and final state of the system is not 6ero. The difference
*et!een the final momentum and the initial momentum of the system is e'ual to the
impulse
Fdt
. <e can epress this as7
( ) [ ]dt g M D A P P dm V dV M
V e a e e V
cos
(9
Again apply &'uation ? and rearrange some terms to yield7
( ) [ ]dt g M D V m A P P dV M
V e e a e V
cos +
(:
"et !e can com*ine the pressure and momentum flu terms to an e'uivalent velocity, c7
e
a e
e
A
m
P P
V c
,
_

(=
+or the case !here the ehaust pressure, pe, is e'ual to the am*ient pressure, pa, !e have7
dt g dt
M
D
M
dM
V dV
V V
V
e
cos
(?
+or the case !here pe D pa, replace 2e !ith c from &'uation (=. &'uation (? is called the
)ocket &'uation. "eglecting drag and assuming vertical flight7

gdt
M
dM
V dV
V
V
e

(@
/ntegrating !e arrive at7
gt
M
M
V V
initial
final
e

,
_

ln
(9
This is eactly the set of epressions derived in the tet *ook in 0ection (0.,.
Bne other interesting aspect is to relate &'uation (9 to the specific impulse, !hich is
defined as the thrust divided *y the fuel !eight flo!7
g
V
g m
V m
g m
T
I
e e
sp

$0
9
0u*stituting &'uation $0 into &'uation (9, !e arrive at another useful form of the )ocket
&'uation7
1
1
]
1

,
_

t
M
M
I g V
final
initial
sp
ln
$(
<e can vie! e'uation (9 as *eing similar to the Ereguet )ange &'uation for aircraft. /t
presents the overall dependence of the principal performance parameters for a rocket
(velocity, 2), on the efficiency of the propulsion system (/sp), and the structural design
(ratio of the total mass to structural mass F since the initial mass is the fuel mass plus the
structural mass and the final mass is only the structural mass).
: