Low Gravity

[atpollard]

Ignoring the effects of mechanical interlock between tyres and road, and assuming no aerodynamically generated downforce, a motorcycle's acceleration in a straight line is limited to 1 local g, so in a low g environment you'r acceleration would slow.

Really? Huh. How does that work?

He is claiming that lower gravity will reduce traction between the wheels and the ground. Which probably makes sense.

If the gravity were zero, then there would be no downward force (floating in the air) and the wheels would spin without generating any forward motion. This is just a less severe case.

 

[hdan]

Ignoring the effects of mechanical interlock between tyres and road, and assuming no aerodynamically generated downforce, a motorcycle's acceleration in a straight line is limited to 1 local g, so in a low g environment you'r acceleration would slow.

Really? Huh. How does that work?

Yeah, not exactly spot-on. Maybe speed is limited by kG, where 'k' is your static coefficient of friction? Eh, I was never very good at statics&dynamics maths.

The mechanical interlock between tire and road IS the only issue in how fast the car could accelerate, assuming a powerful enough engine. The low-g world racer would just have a harder time keeping his tires from spinning out.

 

[Infojunky]

Heh, think about this; the Grav assisted Wheel ATV from jTas.

 

[atpollard]

If anyone is interested, less gravity would probably create a thinner atmosphere, which would reduce drag and increase the top speed.
So the motorcycle would accelerate slower (to avoid just spinning the wheels) but reach a higher top speed.

 

[EDG]

If anyone is interested, less gravity would probably create a thinner atmosphere

Not necessarily true. Yes, if you took a given atmosphere and reduced the gravity then the pressure would decrease (because pressure = density * gravity * depth). But worlds that have lower gravity don't necessarily have thinner atmospheres - it just depends on how much gas they can hold onto, and if they can hold onto a gas then they can hold onto a lot or a little of it.

 

[lastbesthope]

Ignoring the effects of mechanical interlock between tyres and road, and assuming no aerodynamically generated downforce, a motorcycle's acceleration in a straight line is limited to 1 local g, so in a low g environment you'r acceleration would slow.

Really? Huh. How does that work?

It just does, see examples below :lol:

LBH

 

[atpollard]

If anyone is interested, less gravity would probably create a thinner atmosphere

Not necessarily true. Yes, if you took a given atmosphere and reduced the gravity then the pressure would decrease (because pressure = density * gravity * depth). But worlds that have lower gravity don't necessarily have thinner atmospheres - it just depends on how much gas they can hold onto, and if they can hold onto a gas then they can hold onto a lot or a little of it.

I was using something more certain than mere science:

"A planet’s Atmosphere is generated by rolling 2d6–7 and
adding the planet’s Size."

THE RULES!!!
Lower gravity implies smaller size which implies a lower average atmosphere value.

 

[EDG]

Lower gravity implies smaller size which implies a lower average atmosphere value.

If only the rules were actually realistic...

Sort of generally that's kinda valid (how's that for non-commited?), but it depends on a lot of things. Temperature for one - Saturn's moon Titan is a small world compared to Earth, but its atmosphere is half again as thick as ours. Why? Because it's colder out there, and that means that gas molecules don't escape so easily from atmospheres, so smaller worlds can actually have quite thick atmospheres out there.