Laws of physics for gearheads; Leaf charging - Boston.com
However, we found a different kind of “formula writing” in an automotive book that came our way in May at the automotive technology conference jointly sponsored by MIT and the New England Motor Press Association. It’s Physics for Gearheads by Randy Beikmann, who earned his Ph. D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and has been a technical specialist in automotive noise and vibration since 1983 at General Motors Milford Proving Ground. Beikmann says, “As a gearhead, you have a secret advantage when it comes to understanding physics: You see it at work every time you solve a problem with your car or watch a motorsports event. ‘Physics for Gearheads’ will show you that if you can learn about cars, you can learn about physics. My first conclusion is that the operative word here is “gearhead,” and the first corollary to that is that I don’t fit that description. Those of us who consider it an achievement to replace a radiator hose, serpentine belt, or headlight don’t qualify as gearheads—at least not on this level. This would be a terrific textbook for a college-level course in automotive engineering, learning how to compute how kinetic energy of a vehicle in motion is converted to heat in the braking process, how the heat in a fuel is turned into power, or... For me, it’s enough to know that it happens, not to be able to compute it. Beikmann says,. Source: www.boston.com
