Rocket Science article

Mary W. (United States of America)
Student-built rocket with experimental motor blasts to 1st-place finish, UW Today, Aug. 10, 2012, http://www.washington.edu/news/2012/08/10/student-built-rocket-with-experimental-motor-blasts-to-1st-place-finish/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=student-built-rocket-with-experimental-motor-blasts-to-1st-place-finish
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. motor
    machine that creates mechanical energy and imparts movement
    The UW students built a new type of motor powered by a combination of solid paraffin and liquid nitrous oxide.
  2. design
    the act of working out the form of something
    Other attempts to design a motor for this competition “failed spectacularly,” he said, with midair explosions and erratic flights.
  3. unique
    radically distinctive and without equal
    A team of University of Washington students designed a unique rocket motor and launched it 5 miles up to claim first prize this summer in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition.
  4. launch
    propel with force
    The students conducted seven static tests in which they fired the motor without launching the rocket.
  5. combination
    an assemblage of separate parts or qualities
    The UW students built a new type of motor powered by a combination of solid paraffin and liquid nitrous oxide.
  6. liquid
    a substance tending to flow at room temperature and pressure
    The UW students built a new type of motor powered by a combination of solid paraffin and liquid nitrous oxide.
  7. hybrid
    the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock
    Safe but powerful hybrid rocket motors are not yet commercially available.
  8. propulsion
    a force causing to move forward
    The group plans to apply for funding from NASA or other agencies to further develop its propulsion technology.
  9. propellant
    any substance that moves forward with force
    So-called hybrid propulsion systems are a nontoxic, safer alternative to space agency rockets that use hazardous liquid propellants such as hydrazine, nitrogen tetroxide and fuming nitric acid.
  10. ambitious
    having a strong desire for success or achievement
    “Developing a motor is very ambitious,” said faculty adviser Carl Knowlen, a research scientist and lecturer in aeronautics and astronautics.
  11. computational
    of or involving calculation
    "We spent about 90 percent of our time on the propulsion system,” said team lead Viggo Hansen, who graduated in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in applied computational and mathematical sciences.
  12. project
    a planned undertaking
    The UW rocket project began in 2011 as part of a six-month graduate-level course to design and build a sounding rocket, a research rocket designed to carry instruments or record data.
  13. graduate
    of or relating to studies beyond a bachelor's degree
    The UW rocket project began in 2011 as part of a six-month graduate-level course to design and build a sounding rocket, a research rocket designed to carry instruments or record data.
  14. instrument
    a device that requires skill for proper use
    The UW rocket project began in 2011 as part of a six-month graduate-level course to design and build a sounding rocket, a research rocket designed to carry instruments or record data.
  15. combustion
    a reaction of a substance with oxygen to give heat and light
    All parts, including the combustion chamber, were manufactured on campus.
  16. chamber
    a natural or artificial enclosed space
    All parts, including the combustion chamber, were manufactured on campus.
  17. exhaust
    wear out completely
    To fine-tune the motor’s performance, students used a flash X-ray to analyze the structure of the paraffin in the combustion chamber, and a gas chromatograph to analyze the composition of gases in the exhaust.
  18. theoretical
    concerned with hypotheses and not practical considerations
    In the end, the rocket’s motor achieved 93 percent of theoretical combustion efficiency, compared to about 95 percent efficiency that Knowlen said is typical for commercial motors.
  19. efficiency
    the ratio of the output to the input of any system
    In the end, the rocket’s motor achieved 93 percent of theoretical combustion efficiency, compared to about 95 percent efficiency that Knowlen said is typical for commercial motors.
Created on Fri Aug 10 20:08:14 EDT 2012 (updated Fri Aug 10 23:31:20 EDT 2012)

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