What inert gas is often used as the propellant when generating positively charged ions?
Answer
Xenon
The propellant typically introduced into an ion thruster chamber is an inert gas, specifically Xenon. Xenon is favored because of two key properties: its inert nature ensures it does not react undesirably within the chamber, and its relatively high atomic mass facilitates the process of ionization—knocking electrons off the atoms to create the necessary positively charged ions that are subsequently accelerated by the electric field grids.
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