Oxidizer
Revision as of 22:06, 10 October 2024 by RichardWSmith (talk | contribs) (Added a short discussion o Fluorine and added link.)
An oxidizer is a chemical that reacts with a fuel in an exothermal reaction, producing a hot gas that can expand in a nozzle and propel a space vehicle. The most common oxidizer in space applications is oxygen.
A more powerful oxidizer is Fluorine, but in practice it is not used because it is so powerful it is hard to work with, and it produces very toxic exhausts with the most common fuels.
