How much weight can one "thrust" lift? :: Kerbal Space Program General Discussions

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Czar Salad has Kerbal Space Program

Sep 17, 2015 @ 5:45pm

How much weight can one "thrust" lift?

like for example if an engine has a max thrust of 100 how much could it lift?

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Showing 1-11 of 11 comments

Migz - DH

Sep 17, 2015 @ 5:48pm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_%28unit%29

The_Mell

Sep 17, 2015 @ 11:50pm

Thrust is measured in Newton. The force of 1N equals 102g of mass dragged down by Earths gravity (1g or 9.81m/s^2).
A factor of 10 can be assumed, so 10kN of thrust equals 1t of mass.
But remember that a thrust-weight-ratio (TWR) of 1 only lets you hover - not climb.

sh1pman

Sep 17, 2015 @ 11:54pm

Just install a Kerbal Engineer, it will give you all the info you need.

ChillCore

Sep 18, 2015 @ 7:55am

Originally posted by supermdr:
Just install a Kerbal Engineer, it will give you all the info you need.

Automation is cool, but only after you understand what is going on.
eg. Many websitebuilders/programmers/whatevers these days are completely lost as soon as they have to do something their editor of choice does not support doing for them. ;)

Black_Rat

Sep 18, 2015 @ 9:12am

Kerbal engineer doesnt automate anything, it just exposes the numbers the game has access to already but doesnt show

Last edited by Black_Rat; Sep 18, 2015 @ 9:12am

Migz - DH

Sep 18, 2015 @ 9:34am

Originally posted by Black_Rat:
Kerbal engineer doesnt automate anything, it just exposes the numbers the game has access to already but doesnt show

It "automates" the calculation for delta-v.

[PHNX]Kordarus has Kerbal Space Program

Sep 18, 2015 @ 11:16am

Originally posted by Migz - DH:
Originally posted by Black_Rat:
Kerbal engineer doesnt automate anything, it just exposes the numbers the game has access to already but doesnt show

It "automates" the calculation for delta-v.

Calculating the delta-V is so 1960's

Ilune

Sep 18, 2015 @ 7:44pm

Lol. But The_Mell is correct, but lets simplify it. Basically weight is measured in newtons, but the netwons produced by the exhaust must be greater than the weight of the craft. The same exhaust and weight won't do anything, unless your in mid-air with a crew of kerbals screaming "HELP MEEEEE!!!" so just make sure you just check the weight of the craft and the netwons produced. Also the exhaust just isnt greater it is significantly greater.

Last edited by Ilune; Sep 18, 2015 @ 7:44pm

Empiro

Sep 18, 2015 @ 7:51pm

To be more precise, "1 thrust" is 1 kilo-newton, while "1 mass" is one 1 ton (aka 1000 kg). Thus, "1 thrust" can accelerate "1 mass" 1 m/s/s. The gravity on Kerbin is 9.8 m/s/s.

Thus, 100 thrust can hold about 10 units of mass steady in the air. If you actually want to accelerate up at a reasonable speed, you'll want 150-200 thrust.

Ilune

Sep 18, 2015 @ 7:59pm

Originally posted by Empiro:
To be more precise, "1 thrust" is 1 kilo-newton, while "1 mass" is one 1 ton (aka 1000 kg). Thus, "1 thrust" can accelerate "1 mass" 1 m/s/s. The gravity on Kerbin is 9.8 m/s/s.

Thus, 100 thrust can hold about 10 units of mass steady in the air. If you actually want to accelerate up at a reasonable speed, you'll want 150-200 thrust.

Thanks for that. Im actually reading a book about that.

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