Physics of a Car Essay - 1527 Words

Physics of a Car The average driver doesn’t think about what keeps their car moving or what keeps them on the road, but that’s because they don’t have to. The average driver doesn’t have to worry about having enough downforce to keep them on the road or if they will reach the adhesive limit of their car’s tires around a turn. These are the things are the car designers, professional drivers, racing pit crews, serious sports car owners, and physicist think about. Physics are an important part of every sports and racing car design. The stylish curves and ground effects on sports cars are usually there not just for form but function as well allowing you to go speeds over 140 mph in most serious sports cars and remain on the road and in†¦show more content†¦Negative lift is created by front and rear wings on race cars and by ground effects and spoilers on the average sports car. Most negative lift is used to fight inertia as a car rounds a turn. Inertia is the t endency of an object to remain in the same state of motion (Murphy 77). When a car rounds a turn at high speeds it often needs more force than it’s weight to resist the car’s tendency to keep traveling straight. The increased downforce puts more weight on the tires helping the tires grip the road. Drag force is the cost of increasing downforce. Drag force is the force acting on an object in motion in the opposite direction the object is moving through a fluid (Yager). To most people drag force is simply known as air resistance. The objective of aerodynamic efficiency is to maximize downforce while minimizing drag force. Acceleration and Speed are obviously the two defining characteristics of a fast car. Newton’s three laws of motion are an essential part in determining how fast a car will accelerate and how fast it will go. Newton’s second law is the easiest to understand in relation to a car’s acceleration. Newton’s second law mathematically states Force=(mass)(acceleration) (Murphy 78). This law explains why cars that need to accelerate fast should be relatively light in weight compared to other cars. Removing mass, such as a bumper, radio or fancy upholstery reduces the weight ofShow MoreRelatedThe Physics Of Car Crashes1525 Words   |  7 Pages This is a research assignment on the Physics of Car Crashes. In this report the physics behind car crashes will be reported on in depth to answer the question, â€Å"In a car crash, are you better to trust the science behind a more modern vehicle, or the metal in a large, heavy, older car?† This report will explain the Physics behind why Modern vehicles are safer than older cars in a car crash. Impulse - Impulse is the change in momentum, Initial Momentum - Final Momentum or Force x Time. This meansRead MoreCar Accidents and Physics2070 Words   |  9 PagesAmericans are hurt or killed in car accidents. Many factors can play into an accident. 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It is with this principle that seatbelts, crumple zones, air bags, and braking systems, among other featuresRead MoreEssay about The Physics of Car Collisions2433 Words   |  10 PagesBasic Concepts Issac Newton was the first to state the concepts that are necessary to understanding the physics of collisions. His three laws are used again and again in all the fields of physics: Newtons 1st Law In the absence of external forces, an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion with a constant velocity. This law can be best observed in space, far from the gravity of a star or planet, where there is no friction or air resistance. If, in theRead MoreReport On The Car Engines1498 Words   |  6 PagesCar Engines Jonah Hornum Wilde Lake High School Jonah Hornum Torque Torque of a car is very important to its performance. Torque is the measure of how much force is acting on an object and how that causes the object to rotate. (What is torque). Rotating the wheels of a car is torque and that helps the car get up to speed faster. Many performance cars have very fast 0-60 mph speeds, like the corvette, challenger and exotic cars like the Porsche, Bentley, Ashton Martin etcRead More The Physics of Automobile Accidents Essay examples580 Words   |  3 PagesThe Physics of Automobile Accidents Automobile accidents happen all around us. We see cars in the middle of the road after just rear ending each other. We see cars driving around town with big dents in them. Do you ever stop to wonder how car accidents happen? Physics; that’s how they happen. There are several aspects of physics that apply to automobile accidents. An aspect of physics that is applicable to automobile accidents is kinetic energy. Kinetic energy can be defined as the energyRead MorePhysics : Physics Of Physics1522 Words   |  7 PagesPhysics in Everyday Life Physics is the study of everything that matter and energy effect. Since all objects that take up space have energy, every object in the world is studied by physics. Physics deals a lot with forces, such as normal force, gravitational force, and frictional force. A simple example of these forces is a pen being dropped. The force acting on the pen is the gravitational force. There is no other object under the pen to keep it from falling, so the pen will keep falling until it