FOCUS Book

See for yourself how a racecar’s design affects how it

runs. Build two identical model racecars using toilet
paper tubes and two sets of wheels. Make racecars with
different masses by putting objects, such as small rocks,
paperclips, or scrap paper inside the tubes. Seal the
ends of each tube so that the objects do not fall out.
Then weigh each car and record your data.

Next, construct a ramp. Use tape to mark a finish line,

and measure its distance from the ramp. Now measure
the time it takes each racecar to travel down the ramp
and reach the finish line. Did one go faster than the
other? Compare the velocity and kinetic energy of the
two racecars.

How can you redesign a racecar or the track so the car

reaches the finish line even faster?

Beyond the Book

Use the Internet to learn about the training
and safety concerns of racecar drivers.
 FOCUS Question Speed and Direction
How do the parts of a racecar affect
Zoom! The racecars seem to fly past. They are fast,
how it moves?
colorful, and extremely loud! Racecars can be built to go
Cause and Effect long or short distances. They can be built for different
kinds of races. What all racecars have in common is that
Photo Credits: they are built to go fast. Very, very fast!
Front cover: © speedpix/Alamy; page 2: © picturesbyrob/Alamy; page 4: © Dgareri/Dreamstime.com; pages 5
(top), 6 (inset): © Walter Arce/123RF; page 5 (bottom): © Steve Skjold/Alamy; page 6 (main): © Duomo/Corbis;
page 7 (all): © Bob Daemmrich/Alamy; page 8: © Leo Mason/Corbis; page 9: © George D. Lepp/Corbis Racecars that are speeding down the track have a lot
Illustration Credits:
page 3: © Q2A Media Inc.
of kinetic energy—the energy of motion. Speed is how
fast something is moving. To describe the speed of
something, identify the distance it traveled and the
time it took. If a racecar travels 56 meters in one second,
its speed is 56 meters per second. That is about
200 kilometers (125 mi.) per hour.
Reading Levels
Learning A–Z R Not all racetracks are straight. Some include turns.
Racecars
© Learning A–Z Lexile 870L When a racecar slows down or turns a corner, its velocity
All rights reserved.
Correlations changes. Velocity is the speed that the object travels,
Fountas and Pinnell* N
combined with the direction it travels.
www.sciencea-z.com *Correlated independent reading level

2
Kinetic Energy From Family Car to Racecar
Think about walking around a track. You can measure Stock cars are similar to regular family cars, but they
your speed and velocity as you move. Now think about are changed, or modified, so that they can go as fast
running on the track as fast as you can. Your speed as possible for their mass. In fact, all types of racecars
increases, which means your velocity increases. The faster have modifications that make them fast!
you run, the more kinetic energy your body has. The
faster a racecar goes, the more kinetic energy it has, too.
When a car is aerodynamic,
Kinetic energy also depends on the mass of the moving its body is designed to
Spoilers increase downforce. reduce air resistance. Air
object. If two objects of the same mass are moving
Downforce is a force that resistance is the force of the
at different velocities, the faster one has more kinetic pushes the car down. It air pushing against an
helps the car stay low to object as the object moves.
energy. But if two objects of different masses are
the ground when turning. It slows the car.
moving at the same velocity, then the object with larger
mass has more kinetic energy. No one would race a
dump truck against a racecar.
Kinetic energy (KE)
The dump truck needs so much depends on mass (m)
energy to move fast that it cannot and velocity (v).
KE = ½ mv 2
compete. Notice that velocity
is squared
(v 2 means v times v)
but mass is not. That
means a change in
velocity affects
kinetic energy more
than a change in
mass will. The tires of a racecar are different than those of
a family car. The grip, or traction, between the tires
and ground help propel the car forward. Racecar
If the dump truck and
tires are smoother than tires on a regular car to
racecar are going the
give the racecar better traction on the track.
same speed, which has
more kinetic energy?

Force and Motion • Racecars 3 4

 NASCAR Racing
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing,
or NASCAR, is an organization that oversees stock
car races.

Have you heard of the Daytona 500? It is a famous

NASCAR race held in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race
is 500 miles long! This means NASCAR vehicles must
be designed to drive a long distance in addition to
going fast.

The engine of a racecar is more powerful than that The racetrack in Daytona is 2.5 miles long and shaped
of a regular car. A stock car’s engine can achieve
like an oval. Drivers make 200 laps of the course
more than 750 horsepower (HP). This is a measurement
of how fast the engine can do work, or move the car. (500 miles). In some years the winners have averaged
A regular car produces about 120 HP.
more than 175 mph for
the race, finishing in less
than 3 hours of actual
racing time.

Before the invention of the Most NASCAR racetracks

steam engine, most energy are oval-shaped.
for large machines came from
horses. The power of the new
engines was compared to the
number of horses needed to
provide the same power. The
unit was called one horsepower.

Force and Motion • Racecars 5 6

Formula One Racing Drag Racing
Formula One, or F1, is another type of auto racing. Unlike NASCAR and F1, drag racing takes place on short,
While NASCAR is an American racing sport, F1 races straight courses. There are many kinds of drag racing
happen all around the world. cars, also called dragsters. Some dragsters can go from
not moving to 333 mph in 4.5 seconds! The fastest
F1 racecars are built to handle corners and turns. They
dragsters are so fast that they need parachutes to slow
must not skid or flip. How are F1 cars designed for this?
them down after the finish line.
They have wings that create downforce. The downforce
pushes the car toward the ground. This helps to keep Dragsters can go so fast because they have up to
the car on the track around corners or when making 7,000 horsepower engines. That is almost 60 times more
sharp moves to pass other cars. powerful than a regular car. Drag racers can experience
more force from acceleration than astronauts do when
they get launched into space!
Formula One
racetracks
have many
twists and turns. Reaction time is how long it
takes the driver to press the
gas after seeing the starting
rear wing
light. Do you think the driver’s
reaction time should count
toward winning the race?

front wing

Force and Motion • Racecars 7 8

Salt Flats Racing
A special kind of racing takes place on a dried salt lake. Write your answers on separate paper. Use details from
These areas are large, flat, and incredibly smooth, the text as evidence.
allowing cars to reach amazingly high speeds.
1 How are speed and velocity different?
The tires on salt flat racecars are especially important.
2 What are two parts added to cars to provide
They are hard, narrow, and rounded along the edges.
downforce?
These tires would slip and spin on a regular road, but
they are ideal on the unique surface of salt flats. 3 Look at the shapes of the NASCAR and F1 race
courses on pages 6 and 7. How do you think
The fastest salt flat racecars use jet airplane engines, or NASCAR and F1 cars would do if they switched
even rocket engines. They propel a rocket-shaped car. courses? Why?
The huge force of these engines allows drivers to travel
at more than 600 miles per hour! 4 Suppose that a race will be held on soft sand.
Which kind of tires would provide the best
Whether they race on courses that are short or long, traction on this surface? Explain your answer.
curved or straight, on pavement or salt flats, racecars are
5 Why do you think some racetracks are curved
specialized to be fast. Excitement comes along for the ride!
and others are straight?
Salt flat raceways
are very long so
that the racers FOCUS Question
have time to reach
maximum speed. How do the parts of a racecar affect how it moves?
Use an example to explain why different kinds
of racecars are needed for different kinds
of races.

Force and Motion • Racecars 9 10