Definition of Acceleration

[AARuFAST]

Email I received.....

OH,  THE SMELL OF NITRO!!!!!!!!!
 
JUST TAKES MY BREATH AWAY!!!!!!!
 
 
Read this thru slowly and try to comprehend the amount of force produced in just under 4 seconds!
There are no rockets or airplanes built by any government in the world that can accelerate from a standing start as fast as a Top Fuel Dragster or Funny Car!
 

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 6000+ 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 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on over drive 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 7050 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 half way the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 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 burn out the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
 
The redline mark is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
 
Assuming all the equipment is paid off the crew worked for free and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP each run costs an estimate $1000.00 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' (dragstrip start line) 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 linea 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 1320 foot long race course.
 

[hooD]

Totally awesome when put into that perspective.  Great post!

[1970 RT Challenger 1970]

Interesting Facts, but it's all over in a few seconds of duration. Like a Fart in a Wind Storm! 

[GranCuda1970]

Interesting Facts, but it's all over in a few seconds of duration. Like a Fart in a Wind Storm! 

The Empire Farts Back (A Fart Video with Farting)

[Glennster]

 I think that the closest any of us will ever come to experiencing that kind of acceleration would be done at Cedar Point. I've been on their '' TOP FUEL Dragster '', while it is nothing close to the real thing, going 0 to 120 MPH in 4 seconds is pretty sweet! Maybe there's another way to experience that acceleration, I'm not sure. I suspect the pilots of the F-18, F-16 type jets launching from an Air Craft Carrier are hitting it pretty good!!! That has got to be even better that a Top Fuel ride!!!!!!!!!! Probably less G's, but certainly a longer, overall faster BLAST!!!

['Cuda Hunter]

That was great!

Made my feet curl and my eyes water!

What I would give to do that! 

[Chryco Psycho]

sign me up 

[Super Blue 72]

Wow!!!  That is really cool information!!!!  Really makes you think about all the engineering that goes into one of those dragsters to do all that! 



BTW-- That fart video had me in tears!!!!