🔍 Key Concepts

• Impulse steam turbine staging – what the nozzle does vs. what the moving blades do • Difference between potential energy (pressure) and kinetic energy (velocity) of steam in the diagram • Role of the fixed blades/nozzles compared with the moving blades

💭 Think About

• Look at where the big drop in steam absolute pressure occurs in the sketch. Does that happen across the nozzle, the moving blades, or both? • After the steam leaves the nozzle, which form of energy is highest according to the velocity curve, and what must happen to that energy inside the moving blades? • What job is left for the fixed blades if the moving blades were only changing the direction of flow?

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which component (nozzle, fixed blades, or moving blades) is responsible for the pressure drop on the pressure graph. • Decide what type of energy the steam mainly has right after it exits the nozzle by reading the velocity curve. • Match the moving blades’ job to the answer choice that describes taking that form of energy and turning the rotor.