The Naked Scientists
  • Login
  • Register
  • Podcasts
      • The Naked Scientists
      • eLife
      • Naked Genetics
      • Naked Astronomy
      • In short
      • Naked Neuroscience
      • Ask! The Naked Scientists
      • Question of the Week
      • Archive
      • Video
      • SUBSCRIBE to our Podcasts
  • Articles
      • Science News
      • Features
      • Interviews
      • Answers to Science Questions
  • Get Naked
      • Donate
      • Do an Experiment
      • Science Forum
      • Ask a Question
  • About
      • Meet the team
      • Our Sponsors
      • Site Map
      • Contact us

User menu

  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Help
  • Search
  • Tags
  • Member Map
  • Recent Topics
  • Login
  • Register
  1. Naked Science Forum
  2. General Discussion & Feedback
  3. Radio Show & Podcast Feedback
  4. Car tyres
« previous next »
  • Print
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Car tyres

  • 9 Replies
  • 12119 Views
  • 0 Tags

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline DoctorBeaver (OP)

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 12653
  • Activity:
    0%
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • A stitch in time would have confused Einstein.
    • View Profile
Car tyres
« on: 26/03/2006 22:17:33 »
Where the hell did you get that 1 from! It's quite an amazing statistic, but what on Earth gave you the idea for it?

Brand new forum at
http://beaverlandforum.d4a.com
More than just science
Logged
 



Offline rosy

  • Naked Science Forum King!
  • ******
  • 1015
  • Activity:
    0%
  • Thanked: 1 times
  • Chemistry
    • View Profile
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #1 on: 26/03/2006 23:02:26 »
Hmm... I wasn't much convinced by the back-of-the-envelope calculation for the states. 2 cars for *every* family? And, um, 1m diameter car tyres seems a pretty big average... tho' granted it you were talking about the states and I hear cars are bigger over there...
Logged
 

Offline daveshorts

  • Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum King!
  • *****
  • 2568
  • Activity:
    0%
  • Physics, Experiments
    • View Profile
    • http://www.chaosscience.org.uk
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #2 on: 27/03/2006 01:05:29 »
I think the 1m was probably meant to be the circumference... would have to listen to the show again.

When I did the back of the envelope calculation:
area of a car tyre:
.5m x pi * .10cm = .15m^2

5mm tread lost =>
.15m^2 * .005m =.00075m^3

4 tyres => .003m^3 * 1200kg/m^3 = 3.6kg of rubber per car

.9kg per car per year

In the UK there are 26 million cars
=> 26 million kg of rubber per year
or 26 000tonnes

according to :
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=146894

there are about 200 million cars and light vehicles in the US
so chris' guess was pretty good!

so about 200 000tonnes in the US

Of course all these numbers will probably be considerably increased by trucks which run through much larger tyres in a month or two...
Logged
 

Offline chris

  • Naked Science Forum King!
  • ******
  • 7947
  • Activity:
    2.5%
  • Thanked: 273 times
  • The Naked Scientist
    • View Profile
    • The Naked Scientists
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #3 on: 27/03/2006 09:20:01 »
quote:
Originally posted by rosy

Hmm... I wasn't much convinced by the back-of-the-envelope calculation for the states. 2 cars for *every* family? And, um, 1m diameter car tyres seems a pretty big average... tho' granted it you were talking about the states and I hear cars are bigger over there...



mmm, but we also assumed that the width of the tyres was 10cm (to make the sums easy). Most tyres are actually 15-20 cm wide, so the slight over egging of the diameter is made up for by the reduction in width.

Either way, Dave and I still arrived at the same order of magnitude, so a factor of 1 or 2 either way doesn't sound too bad. Also, 2 cars per family is probably not so excessive - kids ahve cars too!

Chris

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
 - Groucho Marx
Logged
I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception - Groucho Marx - https://www.thenakedscientists.com/
 

Offline DoctorBeaver (OP)

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 12653
  • Activity:
    0%
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • A stitch in time would have confused Einstein.
    • View Profile
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #4 on: 27/03/2006 16:24:02 »
The only quibble I would have with your calculations is that most tyres are changed before all the tread has worn away. Not many people would drive round on tyres until they were completely bald.

Brand new forum at
http://beaverlandforum.d4a.com
More than just science
Logged
 



Offline neilep

  • Withdrawnmist
  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 20785
  • Activity:
    1%
  • Thanked: 52 times
    • View Profile
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #5 on: 27/03/2006 16:56:43 »
Dearest Wuverly peeps,

For those of us who had the misfortune to miss the radio show, can you please tell us what the heck you're all talking about !! ?...thanks

hug&smishes

xx
Logged
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
 

Offline DoctorBeaver (OP)

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 12653
  • Activity:
    0%
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • A stitch in time would have confused Einstein.
    • View Profile
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #6 on: 28/03/2006 11:54:10 »
quote:
Originally posted by neilep

Dearest Wuverly peeps,

For those of us who had the misfortune to miss the radio show, can you please tell us what the heck you're all talking about !! ?...thanks

hug&smishes

xx



Chris was calculating how many tons of rubber turn to dust in the U.S. each year due to tyre wear.

Brand new forum at
http://beaverlandforum.d4a.com
More than just science
« Last Edit: 28/03/2006 11:55:35 by DoctorBeaver »
Logged
 

Offline neilep

  • Withdrawnmist
  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 20785
  • Activity:
    1%
  • Thanked: 52 times
    • View Profile
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #7 on: 28/03/2006 13:34:01 »
Ahh...yes...we actually had quite a good thread going on about that ages ago....I'm upset I missed the show...I must have been changing a tyre or something...better check my podcasts now.
Logged
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
 

Offline neilep

  • Withdrawnmist
  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 20785
  • Activity:
    1%
  • Thanked: 52 times
    • View Profile
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #8 on: 28/03/2006 14:10:55 »
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1306
Logged
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
 



Offline DoctorBeaver (OP)

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 12653
  • Activity:
    0%
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • A stitch in time would have confused Einstein.
    • View Profile
Re: Car tyres
« Reply #9 on: 28/03/2006 20:10:27 »
On next week's show - an estimate of the total weight of bogies flicked by the under-10s in Beluchistan [:D]

Brand new forum at
http://beaverlandforum.d4a.com
More than just science
Logged
 



  • Print
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »
Tags:
 
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
  • SMF 2.0.15 | SMF © 2017, Simple Machines
    Privacy Policy
    SMFAds for Free Forums
  • Naked Science Forum ©

Page created in 0.189 seconds with 58 queries.

  • Podcasts
  • Articles
  • Get Naked
  • About
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe to newsletter
  • We love feedback

Follow us

cambridge_logo_footer.png

©The Naked Scientists® 2000–2017 | The Naked Scientists® and Naked Science® are registered trademarks created by Dr Chris Smith. Information presented on this website is the opinion of the individual contributors and does not reflect the general views of the administrators, editors, moderators, sponsors, Cambridge University or the public at large.