ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Jet engine performance

Okay kiddo, so you know how when you blow on a piece of paper, it moves?

Well, a jet engine is like a really big and fancy version of blowing on a piece of paper. It takes in air from the front, and then mixes it with fuel to create a big explosion. This explosion creates a lot of hot air that shoots out the back of the engine, and this is what propels the airplane forward.

The performance of a jet engine is measured in a few different ways. One way is how much power it can create, which is called thrust. Think of thrust like how hard you push something. The more thrust an engine can create, the faster the plane can go.

Another way to measure jet engine performance is how efficiently it uses fuel. Just like how you need to eat food to have energy to run and play, a jet engine needs fuel to create the explosion that propels the plane forward. If an engine uses fuel more efficiently, it can go further and use less fuel overall.

Finally, the temperature of the air coming out of the engine is also important for its performance. The hotter the air, the faster it moves, and the more thrust the engine can create. But if the air gets too hot, it can damage the engine, so engineers have to make sure it doesn't get too hot.

So there you have it, jet engine performance is all about how much power it can create, how efficiently it uses fuel, and how hot the air coming out of it is. Pretty cool, huh?