Rigid body dynamics r and velocities v. Select a reference point R and compute the relative position and velocity vectors, The total linear and angular momentum vectors relative to the reference point R are and If R is chosen as the center of mass these equations simplify to To specialize these formulas to a rigid body, assume the particles are rigidly connected to each other so P, i=1...,n are located by the coordinates r and velocities v. Select a reference point R and compute the relative position and velocity vectors, where ω is the angular velocity of the system. The linear momentum and
Propellant mass fraction important role in the rocket equation: Where formula_10 is the ratio of final mass to initial mass (i.e., one minus the mass fraction), formula_11 is the change in the vehicle's velocity as a result of the fuel burn and formula_12 is the effective exhaust velocity (see below). The term effective exhaust velocity is defined as: where "I" is the fuel's specific impulse in seconds and "g" is the "standard acceleration of gravity" (note that this is not the local acceleration of gravity). To make a powered landing from orbit on a celestial body without an atmosphere requires the same mass