• Question: How does a jet engine create thrust?

    Asked by seen520sunn on 1 Nov 2024.
    • Photo: Martin McMahon

      Martin McMahon answered on 1 Nov 2024:

      In most modern jet engines air is sucked in at the front, and then a large number of fans are used to squeeze this air, fuel is burned in the middle of the engine to create hot gas, then the combined hot gas and squeezed air is squeezed even more by more fans, called turbines. Everything is spinning and happening very fast, and eventually the hot gas mixture is pushed out the back of the engine, and this is what generates the thrust.

Comments

  • Photo: Tina-Jaine H

    Tina-Jaine H commented on :

    On a simple level, a jet engine sucks in air at the front and pushes it out the back. Any 2 objects in contact with each other always exert an equal and opposite force on each other. It’s called the normal reaction force. An example of this is I’m sitting on a chair, I am pushing downwards on the chair, and chair is pushing upwards on me the same amount. So in a jet engine the air pushes on the plane just as much as the plane pushes on the air. So, by pushing air backwards it pushes the plane forwards.
    The fuel burning and turning from a liquid into a gas, also helps this process, because that gas is also pushed out backwards, helping to push the plane forwards.