RockSim Engine?

Peartree

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Ooooh Ed,
We've had long (and sometimes sort of heated) discussions about motors vs. engines for a long time. Go ahead and search here and in the archive if you're really interested but basically while there is some disagreement as to what's "proper" most os us use the two terms pretty interchangeably (proper or not).
 

cosmodrome

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Ooooh Ed,
We've had long (and sometimes sort of heated) discussions about motors vs. engines for a long time. Go ahead and search here and in the archive if you're really interested but basically while there is some disagreement as to what's "proper" most os us use the two terms pretty interchangeably (proper or not).

Simple: The term 'engine' is used when English units are used. The term 'motor' is used when Metric units are used. Unfortunatly, we commonly use mm when talking about the diameter of the device and inches when refering to the length. Furthermore we use pounds to describe the thrust but N-sec for the total impulse. Therefore both 'engine' and 'motor' are incorrect as we use them. The more accurate word to descride the devices is 'Whoooosh generator'. All set?

BTW, oh ya, I went there! :jaw:
 

MarkII

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I kind of like the term "thruster" myself. But yeah, I use "motor" and "engine" interchangeably when I am talking about rockets. As far as I am concerned, the two terms are synonymous. Perhaps that's wrong from an engineering perspective, but I'm not an engineer anyway. ;) If I was writing a paper for a professional engineering publication, I would be more careful and precise in my terminology, but in everyday conversations (and posts on forums), it really doesn't matter which term I use. Everyone seems to know what I mean.

MarkII
 
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