What is Tires: Definition and 86 Discussions

A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, which also provide a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, that is designed to match the weight of the vehicle with the bearing strength of the surface that it rolls over by providing a bearing pressure that will not deform the surface excessively.
The materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air. Before rubber was developed, the first versions of tires were simply bands of metal fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Early rubber tires were solid (not pneumatic). Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Metal tires are still used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber (or other polymer) tires are still used in various non-automotive applications, such as some casters, carts, lawnmowers, and wheelbarrows.

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  1. Ineedhelpwithphysics

    Concept not understood -- Car tires pushing the car forward....

    Here is the picture (THIS ISN"T A HOMEWORK QUESTION JUST WANT TO UNDERSTAND A CONCEPT) I don't understand isn't the tire pushing forward not backward becuase of the friction, road is pushing back.
  2. I

    Gas Laws - pumped tires exploding at the top of a mountain

    When you pump a bicycle tire before riding up a mountain, the tires may explode. I think it is because of Boyle's law, where since the external pressure decreases, the volume of the tire is supposed to increase and it explodes. The solution says that as the air in the tire expands on heating...
  3. ezfzx

    B Photo of crosswalk lines distorted by tires action-reaction

    We've all seen these photos of the crosswalk (or other street lines) on the asphalt distorted when the driven tires of cars push back as they roll forward. (At least I'd like to think we've all seen them.) I used to have one I took myself a long time ago. But, for the life of me, I can't seem to...
  4. D

    How does a 1-wheeled motorcycle turn?

    I've witnessed 1st-hand with my own eyeballs this guy riding an S-shaped path through chicane at Thunderhill East+West 5-mile combined course with front-wheel IN THE AIR! I believe bike is a Yamaha TZ250, 100-120bhp and 200-lbs weight. I conducted an experiment to document behavior of single...
  5. Y

    Automotive Normal load on the tires of car

    Hello there! I am Yanna and I am building a racing car. I am now trying to calculate the tire drag of this car when cornering, but I'm stuck on something. In order to find the tire drag, I need the normal load on each wheel. To find this, I made some equations: 1) the sum of the normal load...
  6. T

    B Why do chains on tires provide more traction in the snow?

    Wouldn't the chain easily get caught on a rock or something? And how does metal provide more traction than rubber wheels?
  7. O

    Automotive Why do tires slip easier from a standstill start?

    Hello! Have some questions I've been thinking about for a while... 1. why is it easier to make the wheels slipping if you rev the engine and relase the clutch fast (this from a standstill start)? exampel; I can be in first gear and have full throttle and no slip will oucure in my car with low...
  8. M

    Find the tension in the cable and the force the ramp exerts on the tires

    Homework Statement A 5000 kg car rests on a 32° slanted ramp attached to a trailer. Only a cable running from the trailer to the car prevents the car from rolling off the ramp (the car's transmission is in neutral and its brakes are off). Find the tension in the cable and the force that the...
  9. L

    Question - Distributed weight on Camper Tires

    Let say I have a 4,000 lb. camper with two axles (four tires). There is 400 lbs. of tongue weight on the hitch which would leave the remaining 3,600 lbs. distributed to the four tires (900 lbs./tire). To keep it simple, let's say the weight of the camper is distributed equally left and right...
  10. T

    Is this possible? Magnetic tires

    I hope I am posting this in the right place but forgive me if I am not. I randomly came across this video and was wondering if this is even possible. I have limited knowledge on this but I have a few thoughts as to why this would not work. First, would you not have to have a power supply in...
  11. R

    How do tires create momentum and change axes in a car turning right?

    A car traveling north makes a right turn, to head east. How do the tires completely offset py and simultaneously create px? (If the tires merely acted like guidance jets, it might turn to face east but continue traveling north.
  12. Z

    Gas Law applying to air vs water vapor

    Say we have a tire filled with air (equal to ambient air surrounding it in every way). pressure on the gauge is 0. Then, we pressurize it to 1 ATM (15psi). If we heat the tire , the air will be heated and expand based on gas law, or is there a factor that changes it based on the air's...
  13. T

    B Need help understanding tires and adhesion

    According to physics F=mu×N. With tires there has to be more that applies. To increase friction, you have to run a stickier rubber compound tire (mu) or increase downforce like with aerodynamic parts (N). But why is it that if you install a new set of tires that is the same coefficient of...
  14. katteelynnn

    B Physics of Tires: Calculating Gas Mileage Difference

    This is not a homework problem. I have been thinking of this for a while now. I am only in physics 2 my professor isn't smart as he thinks he is. I want to figure out how to calculate the gas milage difference from tire size. I would like help to point me in the right direction in order to...
  15. J

    How do forces of the tires contribute to car rollovers?

    I'm trying to understand the physics of car rollovers and perhaps what can prevent them in terms of the forces that are involved. According to various diagrams I've seen, there is friction applied by the tires (with some diagrams showing a set of forces acting only on a single tire which...
  16. H

    Deceleration time for studded snow tires

    I have data from road tests done in someone else's experiment that show that a car with studded snow tires will take on average 23 meters to stop from 25 mph on packed powder at 0 degrees C. From that information, can I figure out what length of time it takes for the car to stop? Can I...
  17. H

    Deceleration rate with studded snow tires

    A car going 25 mph with studded tires on packed powder stops in 20 meters. What will be the stopping distance if it is going 20 mph? We do not know the mass of the car, but perhaps it is accurate to create an acceleration constant that will apply for other speeds? a=v/t and v=d/t so therefore...
  18. I

    Safe in a car if hit by lighting....NOT b/c of rubber tires?

    So I just learned Gausse's Law and it makes me think: People always say you're safe in a car if it get struck by lighting because of the rubber tires (odd, because tired are like 90%carbon) but isn't it also because a car is a Gaussian sphere? The interior is insulated, sort of, right? If this...
  19. P

    Pre spinning aircraft tires before landing?

    Hello there, I was just wondering why aircraft tires are not spun up to landing speed before touching down, wouldn't this allow them to be used for much longer before they need to get retreaded? This would also cut down on the cleaning that happens on runways to remove the rubber right?
  20. J

    Weight Transfer in Car Tires, and Suspension

    I've been looking up how weight transfers between car tires in various forms of acceleration, and I've found some formulas. For linear acceleration, I found this formula on Wikipedia: ΔWeight = (accel) * (height of center of mass) * (mass) / (wheelbase) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_transfer...
  21. Mantikore

    Rolling resistance, tire tolerance, gas mileage

    A question in regards to rolling resistance. Am I wrong in thinking that not everything you hit on the road with your tire effects your gas mileage? Don't tires have a tolerance in terms of how much energy they can absorb before it effects your traction, therefore effecting your gas mileage...
  22. yasser17

    Question about static elecrticity (car tires)

    i wanted to know when the car is moving, do the tyres create static electricity due to friction? please give me any info you know about it.
  23. Dennydont

    Total area of contact between tires and ground?

    Homework Statement A car has four tires in contact with the ground each of which is inflated to an absolute pressure of 3.1×105Nm^-2. If a person of mass 82 kg gets into the car by how much will the total area of contact between the tyres and the ground increase assuming that the tire pressure...
  24. H

    The 1100 kg mass of a car includes four tires

    Homework Statement The 1100 kg mass of a car includes four tires, each of mass (including wheels) 35 kg and diameter 0.80 m. Assume each tire and wheel combination acts as a solid cylinder. If the car is initially at rest and is then pulled by a tow truck with a force of 1500 N, what is the...
  25. N

    Rolling Friction of Bicycle Tires

    Homework Statement Two bicycle tires are set rolling with the same initial speed of 3.30m/s along a long, straight road, and the distance each travels before its speed is reduced by half is measured. One tire is inflated to a pressure of 40 psi and goes a distance of 17.3m ; the other is at 105...
  26. M

    Wider tires, Friction questions

    I was reading my textbook, and I came across the old formula F friction = mu N . It also explicitly stated that force of friction is independent of area. Of course I immediately wondered if this were true then why do wider tires have move grip, So googled searched for the answer. I tried a...
  27. G

    Solving For Rolling Friction in Bike Tires

    Homework Statement Two bicycle tires are set rolling with the same initial speed of 3.60m/s along a long, straight road, and the distance each travels before its speed is reduced by half is measured. One tire is inflated to a pressure of 40 psi and goes a distance of 18.0m ; the other is at...
  28. A

    Aircraft landing impact & tires forces analysis

    how is the smartest, can do the analysis? Ok when the Airplane touch the runway. the rear wheels touch first, in part of second, the rear tires skidding and then start to spin up. I need to analysis the forces to find: friction torque, skidding, slip ratio,... you can use any data or just...
  29. S

    Projectile motion car tires question

    Hi guys, I am really stuck with this homework question... The answer is 14.5 m/s but I do not know how to calculate it. A car has run into a fire hydrant and come to an abrupt stop. A suitcase tied to a rack on top of the car has been thrown off and has landed on the roadside 11.6 m away from...
  30. K

    Rolling resistance of solid tires versus pneumatic

    Hi everyone - quick question on something that's been bugging me. So, train wheels, which are solid steel, have incredibly low rolling resistance, an order of magnitude less than average car tires. This is because they don't bend significantly, so you're not wasting energy to heat as in the...
  31. Q

    How much power is needed to steer tires?

    Homework Statement I am trying to design a car with simple front rack-and-pinion steering system. Exactly like this one I am having trouble find the right motor for the job, assuming typical tire of regular car and the car weight 1ton (included everything) The shape will be simple...
  32. H

    Pushing a car & rolling resistance of tires

    I just want to know if I am understanding this correctly. I am wondering what effect the rolling resistance has on the motion of a car when pushed, or when rolling to a stop. The mass of the car is 1,000kg. I looked up on a table to find the rolling resistance coefficient of a normal car...
  33. Greg Bernhardt

    Automotive Recommend new tires for 04 Accord EX

    My 04 Accord Ex is up for new tires. I replaced them once through the dealer in 09 and they sold me cheap Kumho's which have been leaking air like mad. I've been looking through tirerack.com but there are several options and it's hard to determine what is good. I'm hoping not to spend more...
  34. E

    What is the Angular Speed of Tires with a Radius of 31 cm and a Speed of 12 m/s?

    Homework Statement The tires of a car have a radius of 31 cm. What is the angular speed of these tires when the car is driven at 12 m/s? Homework Equations w=θ/t The Attempt at a Solution θ=d/r θ=d/31
  35. D

    Calculate Angular Velocity of 70cm Bicycle at 25km/hr

    Homework Statement A bicycle with tires 70 cm in diameter is traveling along a road at 25 km/hr. What is the angular velocity in radians per second? (the answer given in the textbook is 19.8 radians per second) Homework Equations A= 1/2r^2 ∅ l = (radius)(central angle)The Attempt at a Solution...
  36. G

    Static Equilibrium / Normal Forces / Braking Forces on tires

    Homework Statement In the figure below, the driver of a car on a horizontal road makes an emergency stop by applying the brakes so that all four wheels lock and skid along the road. The coefficient of kinetic friction between tires and road is 0.36. The separation between the front and rear...
  37. K

    Calculating Frictional Force on Tires in SUV and Trailer System

    [Homework Statement An SUV pulls a trailer carrying a boat. The mass of the SUV is 2460 kg and the mass of the boat and trailer is 490 kg. The SUV starts from rest (velocity = 0) and accelerates for 10 seconds to final velocity 12 m/s; i.e., a = 1.2 m/s2. What is the frictional force...
  38. I

    Wider tires experience more friction than narrow tires?

    Homework Statement "Cars with wide tires experience more friction than cars with narrow tires" Homework Equations Is that statement true or false? What are the advantages of wider tires? explain! The Attempt at a Solution I think that they experience the same friction because...
  39. G

    C/C++ What are the new features in C++0x and how do they work?

    The Final Draft of the standard for the next version of C++ (referred to as C++0x) was just completed, it seems. There are other things to do before it's official and completed, but it's a big milestone. So I was curious what was available in the GCC compiler from the new spec. There's a list...
  40. S

    Angular acceleration of tires on a car

    Homework Statement You accelerate your car from rest at a constant rate down a straight road and reach 22.0 m/s in 111s. The tires on your car have radius 0.320 m. Assuming the tires rotate in a counterclockwise direction, what is the angular acceleration of the tires? Homework Equations...
  41. S

    Angular Velocity with Bike Tires

    Homework Statement Your bicycle tires have a radius of 0.33 m. It takes you 850 seconds to ride 14 times counterclockwise around a circular track of radius 73 m at a constant speed. (a) What is the angular velocity of the bicycle around the track? (b) What is the magnitude of the angular...
  42. A

    Low Air in Tires: Impact on Fuel Efficiency

    Homework Statement Why does a car uses more fuel with lesser air in tyres? Homework Equations Work done =F.d The Attempt at a Solution According to me Friction does no work in rolling if the tyre is purely circular. But when tyes are deflated then they are not circular. Due to...
  43. F

    Frictional forces of car tires. Translation

    So assume a vehicle is undergoing translation in the forward direction on a flat surface, and the power is supplied to the rear wheels. Lets say the reaction force on the rear wheel is Nr, and on the front it's Nf U is the coeff. static friction, and there's no slipping. M is the mass G =...
  44. K

    Help: protection of an orchard from frost by burning tires

    I found this question in a book about physics, but there was no explanation. Q: Why do fruit fruit growers set car tires on fire in their orchards in the clear winter mornings? I imagine te answer would be to stop frost from forming, but I don't understand how smoke or soot could do that. The...
  45. P

    Force by tires divided ?

    force by tires divided ? suppose the mass of a car is m kg , the pressure in its tires is p Pa , so so balance the weight of the car the tires with contact area A will exert some force on the ground , will this force be = mg for all the tires , or will they divide the force among themselves ...
  46. P

    Coefficient of Friction between tires and racetrack

    Homework Statement Jeff Gordon (a race-car driver) discovers that he can accelerate at 4.0m/s2 without spinning his tires, but if he tries to accelerate more rapidly he always "burns rubber." Find the coefficient of friction between his tires and the road. Assume the force from the engine is...
  47. S

    Innovative Ideas for Teaching Tires & Physics to my Class

    I have to teach Tires to my class and I want to do something innovative and new that will tie into Physics. Please help and any ideas you have that I could use would be greatly appreciated
  48. B

    Gauge Pressure of Tires - find car mass

    Gauge Pressure of Tires -- find car mass Homework Statement The gauge pressure in each of the four tires of an automobile is 240 kPa. If each tire has a "footprint" of 22.0 cm-squared, estimate mass of the car. P=240 kPa A=22.0 cm-squared g=9.8 m/s^2 Homework Equations P=F/A 1 atm =...
  49. N

    Contact Area of Tires on surface

    Homework Statement Hello, I am currently working on a robotics project that consists of building a self-balancing robot on a rotating cylinder. I am allowed a total surface contact area of 5 cm^2, and am currently wondering how to calculate the contact area of a whell on a surface (or curved...
  50. B

    What are the Best Tires for a Fuel Efficient Car?

    Hi, I am currently working on a project of building a fuel efficient car. My car has a carbon-fiber chassis, a glass-fiber mainframe and weighs about 110 k.g.s(with driver). I need to find some light weight tires that would go just about right with the rest of the design and also be able to...
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