![the physics of nascar the science behind the speed the physics of nascar the science behind the speed](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/70/15/eb/7015eb29bb9ee68c15586758422ad565.png)
The kinetic energy of the cars varies with the square of the speed, so if you double the speed, it's not twice as energetic, it's four times as energetic." "Watching a race on TV, you have no idea how different the cars are - they're designed to go left, so if you want to go straight, you have to steer right. She's even driven a car, at Texas Motor Speedway, in a "slightly toned-down" stock car - only 600 horsepower. Since then, she's been a denizen at pit row, befriending crew chiefs and mechanics, and discovering that most race teams have one or more Ph.D.s on their staff. A task she expected to take 20 minutes on the Web ended up turning into a book. "Why did it happen?" The question literally kept her up that night, so she dove into all things NASCAR to understand the science behind the sport. "There were no mechanical problems, no tires blown," said Leslie-Pelecky. When one car slid and hit the wall while the others maintained their track integrity, she took notice. Leslie-Pelecky, an associate professor of physics and astronomy, said she had no interest in automobile racing until one night, channel-surfing past the Food Network, she happened upon a NASCAR race and saw a group of cars turning a corner.
#THE PHYSICS OF NASCAR THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SPEED HOW TO#
14, Dutton will release a new NASCAR-licensed book, "The Physics of NASCAR: How to Make Steel + Gas + Rubber = Speed," that strips away the paint scheme and aura of today's high-performance stock car and addresses the engineering and physics of how its built, tested and raced both for speed and safety. Tapping into the wave of making science more interesting for students, University of Nebraska-Lincoln physicist Diandra Leslie-Pelecky became a NASCAR fanatic by accident. , February 12th, 2008 - Color JPEG image of "The Physics of NASCAR" in its dust cover.