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I have a science project about how different propellants affect the thrust of an Ion engine. So I have 2 questions:

  1. How can I measure the thrust of a diy ion engine? (technique or tool that I need to buy any solution is welcome)

  2. Is there a way for me to test other propellants other than $N_2$ in the air (where to get the gases and a setup to test it)?

Any other suggestions to add value to my research is very welcome. Thanks.

The test ion engine will look something like the one shown here.

  • Tie the engine to a strain gauge, or equivalent. – Carl Witthoft Jan 31 '19 at 18:13
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    I suspect this should have been migrated to Engineering.SE, as this is not an astronomy or a spaceexplo question, but rather one of standard measurement tools and techniques. – Carl Witthoft Jan 31 '19 at 18:13
  • @CarlWitthoft Ion engines are used practically nowhere except space. – peterh Jan 31 '19 at 20:32
  • @peterh - that's as it may be; they are not tested in space :-) – Carl Witthoft Feb 01 '19 at 13:33
  • @CarlWitthoft SMART-1 flied to the Moon with an ion drive. – peterh Feb 01 '19 at 13:35
  • @peterh, wow - an outfielder made a catch on the Moon? All joking aside, you are missing the point -- nobody made a thrust measurement test on SMART-1 . – Carl Witthoft Feb 01 '19 at 13:43
  • @CarlWitthoft I would be really surprised if no testing of a completely new drive had happened before the launch. Well, I admit this test probably wasn't in the space, but in a vacuum chamber on the Earth. But it was obviously space technology development, and even a very cutting edge one. – peterh Feb 01 '19 at 14:02

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