In rocket flight, forces become balanced and unbalanced all the time. A rocket on the launch pad is balanced. The surface of the pad pushes the rocket up while gravity tries to pull it down. As the engines are ignited, the thrust from the rocket unbalances the forces, and the rocket travels upward.

The aerodynamic shape of the nose cone helps prevent air from slowing the rocket. The fins help guide the rocket to fly straight. Finally, the propellant system includes a mixture of fuel and a chemical called an “oxidizer” that gives off oxygen. The fuel and oxidizer burn together to launch the rocket off the ground.

So to help your rocket go faster and higher: 1) The faster the fluid can be expelled from the rocket, the greater the thrust (force) of the rocket. 2) Increasing the pressure inside the bottle rocket produces greater thrust. This is because a greater mass of air inside the bottle escapes with a higher acceleration.

In a liquid propellant rocket, the fuel and oxidizer are stored in separate tanks, and are fed through a system of pipes, valves, and turbopumps to a combustion chamber where they are combined and burned to produce thrust.

3 Answers. Old school Atlas — 0.1 to 0.4 inches (2.5 to 10 mm) thick — so, actually, similar to the metal portion of the shuttle ET. Centaur upper stage tanks — 0.014″–0.016″ (0.36 to 0.41 mm) thick (!). Saturn V’s 1st stage tanks varied in thickness from 0.170″-0.254″ (4.32 to 6.45 mm).

Answer 2: I don’t think liquid nitrogen can be used as a “fuel,” but it can be used to create thrust. In an jet aircraft or rocket, when burning fuel, a hot gas is created which is then expelled out of the engine. You have to be careful, though, because the pressure can build up very rapidly as the nitrogen boils off.

Since, Nitrogen is an inert gas and is not a candidate as fuel. However, it can be used with Hydrogen to form Ammonia as energy carrier, since producing, storing and combustion of pure hydrogen has many limitations, which can be solved with Ammonia.