Re: Another new? idea

[T.L.G.vanderLinden@student.utwente.nl (Timothy van der Linden)]

>No I was woundering about the amount of wattage to the amount of momentum, or
>wattage to specific impulse in a reaction mass.  I'm woundering about using
>the beam to run a microwave powered rocket, rather than a sail.

Oh, why didn't you say that at once ;) I hope this is what you mean:

Momentum/Energy (p/E) ratio:

for photons:    1/c

for mass   :    1/c {v/(c-Sqrt[c^2-v^2])} if you know the velocity
             or 1/c Sqrt[U(U+2 m c^2)] if you know mass and kinetic energy

where {v/(c-Sqrt[c^2-v^2])} is always bigger than 1

So if you have some energy and want to get the most momentum of it you could
best use mass.

Tim