Sunday, January 9, 2011

Truck Torque

So for the past week or so, I have been enjoying my newly painted truck! And while doing so I realized that in a car there are many parts of the car that produce a torque and have a moment of inertia.  The first is probably the most obvious, the door.  The doors of cars are like many other types of doors. The handle is placed pretty far from the axis in so the lever arm is larger.  Since the lever arm is larger less force is needed to open the door.  So any time I open my car i produce a torque. The second item is the steering wheel.  When ever you drive a car you produce a torque because you are applying a force and the wheel has a lever arm which is equal to the radius.  The last part of the car I noticed was the seat adjuster.  Now alot of mornings i get in the car and I have to readjust the back of seat because it just never seems to be comfortable. So one morning i realized that ever time I adjust my seat I create a torque.  As I pull up on the lever I apply a force which is a certain distance away from the axis.  Now even though I just pointed out these three parts of the car, there are many other little things in a car that produce a torque. But most the time we don't stop to notice it.

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