How does a jet engine work?
The jet engine creates forward thrust by taking large amounts of air and expelling out the gas at high speed causing the object attached to go forward. Aircraft nowadays, especially military and commercial aeroplanes, will use jet engines to power their planes.
Three simple stages make a jet engine work:
Compressor
At the front of the engine, there are fan blades which either rotate or stay static. These blades draw air into the engine. Within the front section of the engine, there are more rows of blades that pressurise the air as it passes through each row.
Combustion Chamber
The pressurised air goes into the combustion chamber. Jet fuel is sprayed to make air/fuel mixture and an electric spark ignites the fuel and air mixture within the chamber. The air/fuel mixture burns, thereby increasing pressure and temperature.
Turbines
The hot pressurised gas is expelled out by the turbine at the rear of the engine which takes energy out of the gas that causes the pressure and temperature to drop. As the pressure decreases the gas flows out faster. The energy from the gas drives the turbine at the rear which rotates the compressor that draws air into the engine at the front. The release of the gas through the nozzle at the rear of the engine causes thrust, therefore the plane moves forward.
The jet engine has changed the aeroplane industry by providing fast commercial flights all over the world. Without the jet engine, tourism wouldn’t be booming and packages/letters will take a while to get delivered. The efficiency of jet engines has allowed holiday providers as well as delivery companies to provide a cheap service to the masses.