random thought for today

[Ben McKinney]

What would happen if you used an ionic pulse inside of an oscillating magnetic field? would a high concentration of hydrogen make a difference?

[swansont]

That would depend on what an ionic pulse is. A web search results in Star Trek and Doctor Who references. For the record, those are science fiction.

[Ben McKinney]

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs21grc.html

 

 

i was reading this ... and thought if you could pulse the ions at the same rate as the ocillation of the magnetic feild .... would that not increase the potential and power of the thruster...??? Modern ion thrusters use inert gases for propellant.... what about hydrogen.....???? (this was my question)

[swansont]

I'm not sure what pulsing would gain you.

 

Atomic hydrogen is harder to ionize than Xenon. You also want a massive ion to maximize the momentum you get for a given amount of energy, since the momentum scales with [math]\sqrt{m}[/math]. Then there's chemistry — non-inert gases won't react with the container. Hydrogen is also harder to liquify and the gas tends to escape more easily since it's small.