Estimate drag force on car.

Let the cars principle dimension be R, which is to say consider a spherical car, [ R ] = [ L] = [characteristic length of body]; [ ] = [ ML1T 1 ] = [fluid viscosity]; (1.1) [v ] = [ LT 1 ] = [velocity of body]; [ ] = [ ML3 ] = [fluid-density]; Force: estimate the force by considering continuity, J p = [ ML1T 2 ] = [momentum current] ~ P = [MT 2 L1 ] = [pressure]; J p ~ P;
J p = v ~ v / R; J p ~ P P ~ v / R

(1.2) (1.3)

Surface area, S: let the body be approximately spherical. Then, we can immediately compute resistive force S ~ 4 R 2 F ~ PS = ( v / R ) (4 R 2 ) = 4 vR ; Compare: exact F for sphere is: F = 6 vR ; (1.4) Reynolds number: Using a power-law-ansatz for a dimensionless quantity, we form the Reynolds number as, Re = [Reynold's number] = v a R b c d = LaT a Lb M c L cT c M d L3d (a, b, c, d ) = (1,1, 1,1) Re = vR / ; (1.5) Let / , the dynamic viscosity. We know v = 60 mph = 27 m , and R could be about 2 meters. Thus, it s

remains to estimate the dynamic viscosity, which has units of L2T 1 , the same as diffusivity. Using DA again, [ ] = L2T 1 ~ vRMS = [mean free path][RMS thermal velocity] (1.6) The RMS-velocity is well-known to be T = U therm 1 mv 2 = 3 k BT v = 2 2
3k B T m

vRMS , in which

m 0.3mO2 + 0.7 mN 2 , and mO2 = 5.3 1026 kg 16 mN 2 . The mean free path can be estimated by considering a 14

typical atom of air, saying that it sweeps out a cylinder of space of volume V ~ nV 1 , where nV is the numberdensity of atoms, meaning V = r 2 = nV = ( r 2 nV )1 . The cross section of the molecule r could be estimated by considering the n = 2 level of atomic states, E2 =
1 22

E1 = 2 V = 2 T (c.f., virial theorem) in

which E1 = 13.6 eV , and V = V (r ) = kZe 2 / r , yielding,

r~ kZe 2 (9 109 )( 7 +8 )(1.6 1019 )2 2 = = 6.4 nm = 128 Bohr radii 19 1 V ) 2+1 (13.6)(1.6 10 2

Meanwhile: the ideal gas law gives us nV as: PV = Nk BT nV = N / V = P / (k BT ) . So, we finally estimate the dynamic viscosity as, 3k BT / m 3k BT / m 3 (0.026 1.6 1019 J )3/ 2 1 m2 ~ = kZe2 2 P = = 1.64 107 (1.7) N r 2 nV ( V ) kBT (6.4109 m)2 (1105 m2 ) 0.3 + 14 0.7 5.3 1026 kg s 16 We anticipate a very high reynolds number, vR (27 m )(2m) s Re = = = 3.3 109 F ~ R (Re) v = (Re) Rv = (Re) RvmnV ; (1.8) 7 1.64 10