Ot ------ 'definition Of Acceleration'

[A.K. Boomer]

I got this from a bro today and thought it worth posting as I was amazed at some of the little "fun facts" when broken down --- Gotta say im really not a top fueler kinda guy but wow, never though about just 900 revolutions getting the job done...

'DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION'
>
> One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more
> horsepower
> than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the Daytona
> 500.
>
> It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+
> horsepower of an NHRA
> Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.
>
> Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2
> gallons of nitro
> methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at
> the same rate
> with 25% less energy being produced.
>
> A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to
> drive the
> dragster's supercharger.
>
> With 3,000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger
> on overdrive,
> the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form
> before ignition.
>
> Cylinders run on the verge of
> hydraulic lock at full throttle.
>
> At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and
> technology by
> which quantities of reactants and products in chemical
> reactions are
> determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the
> flame front
> temperature measures 7,050 deg F.
>
> Nitro methane burns yellow.. The spectacular white flame
> seen above the
> stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from
> atmospheric water
> vapor by the searing exhaust gases.
>
> Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is
> the output of
> an arc welder in each cylinder.
>
> Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass.
> After
> halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression, plus the
> glow of exhaust
> valves at 1,400 deg F. The engine can only be shut down by
> cutting the fuel
> flow.
>
> If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned
> nitro builds up in
> the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient
> force to blow
> cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block
> in half.
>
> In order to exceed 300 mph in 4. 5 seconds, dragsters must
> accelerate an
> average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph (well
> before half-track),
> the launch acceleration
> approaches 8G's.
>
> Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have
> completed
> reading this sentence.
>
> Top fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from
> light to light!
> Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900
> revolutions under
> load.
>
> The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm.
>
> Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for
> free, and
> for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an
> estimate $1,000.00 per second.
>
> The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428
> seconds for
> the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at Pomona , CA
> ). The top speed
> record is 336.15 mph as measured over the last 66' of
> the run (05/25/05 Tony
> Schumacher, at Hebron , OH ).
>
> Putting all of this into perspective:
>
> You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter
> 'twin-turbo' powered
> Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a top fuel
> dragster is staged and
> ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You
> have the
> advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up
> through the gears
> and blast across the starting line and pass the dragster at
> an honest 200
> mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that
> moment.
>
> The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your
> foot down
> hard, but you hear an incredibly
> brutal whine that sears your eardrums and
> within 3 seconds, the dragster catches and passes you. He
> beats you to the
> finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed
> him.
>
> Think about it, from a standing start, the
> dragster had spotted you 200
> mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the
> road when he passed
> you within a mere 1,320 foot long race course.
>
> ... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION!
>

[Evan]

Well, I call major BS on one item which calls into question the others. A 747 generates 60,000 hp at cruise so if it uses the same amount of fuel as the dragster (it doesn't) then it would be 1000% more efficient. The type certificate sheet says the RR engines consume .365 lbs fuel per hp per hour.

[vincemulhollon]

Evan's right, mostly bogus, but oddly enough at least some of it might be correct.

The stated redline is not all that impressive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redline

"the Yamaha YZF-R6 has a redline of about 16,200 rpm"

And then there's "Compresses the fuel to near solid state" Gotta be kidding.

[davidh]

i kinda enjoyed the defination of torque myself. . . .

but i can understand and feel what it would be like to drive one of those monster dragsters. POWER ! WOW !

[wierdscience]

Still impressive engines.

This isn't top fuel,but this guy is very lucky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqUvM...eature=related

[kf2qd]

Originally Posted by vincemulhollon

Evan's right, mostly bogus, but oddly enough at least some of it might be correct.

The stated redline is not all that impressive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redline

"the Yamaha YZF-R6 has a redline of about 16,200 rpm"

And then there's "Compresses the fuel to near solid state" Gotta be kidding.

The big difference between the Yamaha engine and the top fuel dragster is the amount of metal flying around as it runs at 9500 RPM. The forces in the dragster engine are absurd..... If you build it light you can rev way up there. When you build it heavy, well....

[A.K. Boomer]

Originally Posted by Evan

Well, I call major BS on one item which calls into question the others. A 747 generates 60,000 hp at cruise so if it uses the same amount of fuel as the dragster (it doesn't) then it would be 1000% more efficient. The type certificate sheet says the RR engines consume .365 lbs fuel per hp per hour.

It looks like their over ten times off the mark on that one, as far as the RPM's like KF2 stated - this is a big block not some yamerhammer Fizzer, the difference is the connecting rods aren't just holding up small houses at redline --- their brick apartment buildings,
many of the math facts are close and it really makes you think, again not my cup of tea and I personally I can think of way better ways to have fun with fuel including introducing turns turns are g-forces gift that keeps on giving...

[Forrest Addy]

I've een the Boomer's inserted material several times. It was written for hot-rodders, normally people who neither research nor shop critically and who accept anything at face value provided it exaults their sport and who will buy anything touted as made of "billet" material regardless of merit. The reading fare of such people seldom stands up to offhand skepticism much less technical analysis.

For example: "the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition" What a lunatic asserton. Obviously written by someone unfamiliar with the physics concept "critical temperature".

Let them have their fun in their strange, utterly gullable playpen called hot-rodding.

Not all hot-rodders and automotive enthusiasts are as I depict them but enough are so (98% is my etimate) that my stereotype holds true for the individual unless events prove oherwise.

[bob ward]

While we are sort of talking dragsters.... What ETs would be expected from Formula 1 cars for the standing quarter mile?

[tattoomike68]

My old boss had 3 funny cars. his point was that if you dont need a parachute to slow down then its just a slow azz street car.