2003-2004 Public Lecture Series Poster

Probability and Statistics in Complex Systems: Genomics, Networks, and Financial Engineering, September 1, 2003 - June 30, 2004

IMA Public Lecture:

Math at Top Speed: Breaking Myths in the Drag Racing Folklore

Richard A. Tapia
Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics (CAAM)
Rice University
rat@rice.edu
http://www.caam.rice.edu/~rat/

November 20, 2003     7:00 pm    Smith Hall 100

Co-sponsored by the IT Alumni Society (ITAS)

Lecture Video (flv)  Talks (Audio)    Photo Gallery 

Abstract:

Throughout his life, either as participant, support individual, or involved spectator, the speaker has been involved in some aspect of drag racing. As such he has witnessed the birth and growth of many myths concerning dragster speed and acceleration. In this talk the speaker uses his mathematical training to identify rather elementary mathematical frameworks for the study of a particular popular belief and then applies mathematics to better understand the belief at hand. In this manner some myths are explained and validated, while others are destroyed. Included in these examples will be attempts to determine how fast dragsters are really going and what is the maximum acceleration achieved by today's dragsters? The speaker will explain why dragster acceleration is greater than the acceleration due to gravity, an age-old inconsistency. The first part of the talk will be a historical account of the development of the sport of drag racing and will include shots of various family members. A component of the presentation will be several lively videos used to illustrate points.

IMA Workshop: Networks and the Population Dynamics of Disease Transmission, November 17-21, 2003

2003-2004 Public Lecture Series Poster

IMA Public Lecture Series/Special Lectures