Driving a racecar must be really fun. So our fan Elian K. asked for our coolest numbers about Formula 1 racecars. Each car is made of more than 16,000 parts. Even with all those parts, the cars weigh only 1,500 pounds. They’re so light that they need wings to hold them down, otherwise they’d take off into the air. And the tires reach temperatures around 250 degrees F – hot enough to cook an egg! And after all that racing, you might be hungry.
Lace up: Car tires are circles. Can you see any circles in your classroom?
Jog: A racecar has 2 front tires and 2 back tires. How many tires does it have in total?
Sprint: If you can cook 2 eggs on each of those tires, can you cook half a dozen (6 eggs) at once?
Hurdle: These racecars can drive 220 miles per hour! If you’re speeding at 120, how much faster do you need to drive?
High Jump: If you drive 3 times as fast as your usual 65 miles an hour, can you keep up with a 220-mph Formula 1 car?
Pole Vault: If after the race, every racecar driver cooks 3 eggs on each front tire and 1 egg on each back tire, and there are 32 more “front” eggs than “back” eggs, how many cars drove in the race?
Answers:
Lace up: Answers may include clocks, buttons on clothes, the rim of a cup, or eyelets for shoelaces.
Jog: 4 tires.
Sprint: Yes! You can cook up to 8 eggs at once.
Hurdle: 100 miles an hour faster.
High Jump: Not quite…you’ll reach 195 miles an hour.
Pole Vault: 8 cars, since each car has 4 more front eggs (6 total) than back eggs (2 total).
