what is the space shuttle's SRB motor/engine? I do not know how the thrust in the space shuttle's SRB goes out/burns. research shows that it either an engine or motor though I'm not sure.
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1Do you have a question that is not covered by the wikipedia article? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Solid_Rocket_Booster – Organic Marble Jun 10 '21 at 23:43
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yes ive looked there – hieverybody Jun 10 '21 at 23:44
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1The article covers "what is the space shuttle's SRB motor/engine?" (sic). If you have a more detailed question, please edit your post. – Organic Marble Jun 10 '21 at 23:46
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may i ask where – hieverybody Jun 10 '21 at 23:48
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1"it's either an engine or motor" has piqued my curiosity about those words, so I've asked: Can "engine" and "motor" be used interchangeably in spaceflight? Are there any cases where they can't be? – uhoh Jun 11 '21 at 00:13
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1Do not get the words confused with internal combustion engine used in cars and trucks and electric motors used in electric cars, fans, pumps etc. Rocket engine and rocket motor are related but different things from the normal usage of the word engine and motor. – AJN Jun 11 '21 at 12:57
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1It's a bit unclear what you are asking here. Are you asking how solid rocket motors work, or are you asking why they are called motors rather than engines? – David Hammen Jun 11 '21 at 14:35
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boosters have engines or motors right – hieverybody Jun 13 '21 at 18:24
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@DavidHammen no – hieverybody Jun 22 '21 at 23:19
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@hieverybody "No"??? I did not ask a yes/no question. What exactly are you asking about? Why are you asking this question? What don't you understand? We who answer questions here are happy to help people understand space exploration. We do it for free. But those of you who want increased understanding need to help us by making your questions clear. This question is not clear. – David Hammen Jun 23 '21 at 15:09
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Whether the SRBs are called a motor or an engine is a kerfuffle, a pointless argument over terminology. One could equally well call them thrusters, which is a term I prefer. The working principles of a solid rocket motor, a liquid rocket engine, an ion thruster, a cold gas thruster, and even the hypothetical matter-antimatter photon thruster are one and the same. They all generate thrust by expelling momentum from the vehicle in a more or less collimated direction, thereby making the vehicle accelerate in the opposite direction due to conservation of momentum.
A common feature of rocket motors, engines, and thrusters is that the material that will eventually be expelled is carried with the vehicle until it is expelled. This makes these devices subject to the ideal rocket equation. In contrast, a solar sail is not subject to the tyranny of the rocket equation because a solar sail does not carry the material used to make the vehicle accelerate.
If you are asking how solid rocket motors work, they burn at a flame front, the interface between the solid propellant and the gas that is created by the burning propellant. The exhaust gas leaves the rocket through the nozzle. The flow is subsonic prior to the throat of the nozzle and supersonic after the throat. This concept of a convergent-divergent nozzle is also used with liquid rocket engines and cold gas thrusters. Ion thrusters use a shaped electric or magnetic field to produce a behavior similar to that produced by a convergent-divergent nozzle with physical walls.
David Hammen
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2@hieverybody You appear to be thinking that there is a difference between the two concepts. Ultimately, there is not. You say engine, I say motor (a reference to a famous 1957 song). Or even more dated, What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet (a reference to an even more famous 1595 play). – David Hammen Jun 11 '21 at 05:09