Rolls-Royce
Our Company
Rolls-Royce Plc is a world leading industrial technology companies. The company manufactures products for the Civil Aerospace, Defence and Power System markets. This means our products can be seen all over the world as part of passenger planes, fighter aircraft, helicopters, tanks, trains, ships, submarines, combine harvesters and in the future, flying taxis! Rolls-Royce Plc also pioneers nuclear power for civil applications. Unfortunately, we have not manufactured cars since the 1970s when this part of the business was sold off.
What will you learn at our exhibit?
Groups will get a general overview of our flagship product, the jet engine (more specifically, the civil gas turbine engine). They will learn how the major components of the jet engine work and how it all comes together to power some of the world’s largest jets.
What Physics is used?
Mainly aerodynamics, thermodynamics and laws of motion. When a jet engine is running, air is compressed to a density 50 times greater than the air we breathe and is then fed into the combustor. This compressed air is mixed with fuel and ignited, converting the chemical potential energy of the fuel into thermal and kinetic energy of the air. As this air leaves the combustor at high speed it passes through the turbine stages, which turn and extract work from the air. These turbine stages power the main fan and compressor. Once the air leaves the turbine it is expelled out the back of the engine, providing thrust in accordance with Newton’s third law (every action has an equal and opposite reaction)
Why is it useful?
The groups will gain a general appreciation of the technologies used by one of the world’s top engineering companies and brands. We hope the lecture will inspire students to pursue a career in aerospace engineering.