This is a picture of how the air flows through a jet engine.

How a Jet Engine Works

This is a picture of how the air flows through a jet engine.

Jet engines move the airplane forward with a great force that is produced by a tremendous thrust and causes the plane to fly very fast.

All jet engines, which are also called gas turbines, work on the same principle. The engine sucks air in at the front with a fan. A compressor raises the pressure of the air. The compressor is made up of fans with many blades and attached to a shaft. The blades compress the air. The compressed air is then sprayed with fuel and an electric spark lights the mixture. The burning gases expand and blast out through the nozzle, at the back of the engine. As the jets of gas shoot backward, the engine and the aircraft are thrust forward.

The image above shows how the air flows through the engine. The air goes through the core of the engine as well as around the core. This causes some of the air to be very hot and some to be cooler. The cooler air then mixes with the hot air at the engine exit area.

A jet engine operates on the application of Sir Isaac Newton's third law of physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is called thrust. This law is demonstrated in simple terms by releasing an inflated balloon and watching the escaping air propel the balloon in the opposite direction. In the basic turbojet engine, air enters the front intake and is compressed, then forced into combustion chambers where fuel is sprayed into it and the mixture is ignited. Gases which form expand rapidly and are exhausted through the rear of the combustion chambers. These gases exert equal force in all directions, providing forward thrust as they escape to the rear. As the gases leave the engine, they pass through a fan-like set of blades (turbine) which rotates the turbine shaft. This shaft, in turn, rotates the compressor, thereby bringing in a fresh supply of air through the intake. Engine thrust may be increased by the addition of an afterburner section in which extra fuel is sprayed into the exhausting gases which burn to give the added thrust. At approximately 400 mph, one pound of thrust equals one horsepower, but at higher speeds this ratio increases and a pound of thrust is greater than one horsepower. At speeds of less than 400 mph, this ratio decreases.

In a turboprop engine, the exhaust gases are also used to rotate a propeller attached to the turbine shaft for increased fuel economy at lower altitudes. A turbofan engine incorporates a fan to produce additional thrust, supplementing that created by the basic turbojet engine, for greater efficiency at high altitudes. The advantages of jet engines over piston engines include lighter weight with greater power, simpler construction and maintenance with fewer moving parts, and efficient operation with cheaper fuel.

Essential vocabulary:

1. tremendous thrust – огромная сила тяги

2. shaft – ось, шпиндель

3. to compress – сжимать

4. to blast out – вырываться

5. nozzle – сопло

6. core – сердцевина, центр

7. inflated balloon – надувной шар

8. to propel – толкать, приводить в движение

9. front intake – переднее впускное отверстие

10. combustion chamber – камера сгорания

11. to ignite – воспламенять, зажигать

12. to expand – расширять

13. to exhaust – выходить, вытягивать

14. rear – задняя часть

15. to exert – действовать (о силе), оказывать (давление)

16. afterburner – форсажная камера сгорания (двигателя)

17. ratio – коэффициент, степень, соотношение

18. turboprop engine – турбовинтовой двигатель

19. altitude – высота (над уровнем моря)

20. turbofan engine – турбовентиляторный двигатель

21. to supplement – добавлять, дополнять

22. efficiency – коэффициент полезного действия, производительность

23. maintenance – тех. обслуживание, текущий ремонт

I. Answer the questions:

1. What is the function of a jet engine?
2. What law of physics application does the jet engine operate on?
3. What are the expand gases exhausted through?
4. What the engine thrust may be increased by?
5. What way are the exhaust gases also used in the turboprop engine?
6. What is a function of a fan in the turbofan engine?
7. What are the advantages of jet engines over piston ones?

II. Find the English equivalents of the word combinations:

1. реактивный двигатель
2. всасывать воздух
3. повышать давление воздуха
4. вырываться из сопла
5. газы расширяются
6. применение закона физики
7. в обратном направлении
8. соотношение/коэффициент увеличивается
9. экономия топлива
10. сжатый воздух

III. Translate the sentences using the phrases listed above:

1. Все реактивные двигатели работают по одному принципу.
2. Давление воздуха в компрессоре повышается.
3. Третий Закон Ньютона применяется в работе реактивного двигателя.
4. Горящие газы вырываются из сопла.
5. Вырывающийся воздух толкает летательный аппарат в обратном направлении.
6. При высоких скоростях коэффициент тяги увеличивается.
7. Воздух всасывается в двигатель с помощью винта.

IV. Match the words with the definitions:

1. engine a) the process of burning
2. compressor b) a measure of the relative size of two classes expressible as a proportion
3. nozzle c) a disc or cylindrical part that slides to and fro in a hollow cylinder
4. thrust d) any substance burned as a source of heat or power
5. turbine e) any rotating device that compresses a gas
6. to expand f) any machine designed to convert energy into mechanical work
7. ratio g) a propulsive force produced by the fluid pressure
8. combustion h) a projecting pipe from which fluid is discharged
9. fuel i) any type of machine in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid is converted into mechanical one
10. piston j) to become greater in extent, volume, size or increase

V. Complete the sentences in your own way:

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