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What's Drag?First, let's define drag.There are several types of drag, but the drag that matters most to people who build race cars is induced drag. Induced drag is related to lift. Lift is what makes it possible for airplanes to fly and race cars to travel at 200 mph—and faster!
This simple exercise will help you to understand more about lift. Tear or cut a strip of paper approximately one inch wide and 8 inches long Holding one end of the paper, press the end just below your bottom lip. Now blow on the paper. It should lift immediately, and remain lifted as long as you blow. Why did the paper lift? As you blew on the strip of paper, you made air move very fast across the top of it. The quickly-moving air created a pocket of low pressure above the paper. This in turn meant that the air pressure beneath the paper was HIGHER relative to the low pressure pocket above the paper. The higher pressure air pushed up, or lifted, the area of low pressure—which included the strip of paper. Lift is a powerful phenomenon. Here's how it comes into play with race cars:
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