The Effects of Air Resistance on Vehicle Speed Calculations: A Quantitative Analysis

This article explores the mathematics involved in calculating air resistance as it is utilized in vehicle speed calculations. The author focuses on the various forces that affect a vehicle skidding on a surface and how the drag force, caused by a vehicle's travel through the air, is defined. The article first presents a basic example of a speed calculation that ignores drag. The article goes on to consider vehicle speed estimates with drag, finding an equation for velocity, and a comparison of speed calculations (no drag versus drag). The author concludes that, based on the mathematics present, drag is negligible. Since friction is dependent upon the weight of the vehicle and the fact that vehicles are relatively heavy compared to the force of drag, thus drag can be ignored under typical conditions. There is a brief mention of the need to continue to consider the role of drag for vehicle design.