I'm teaching about friction now and a discussion came up about race cars.
I mentioned that these cars usually have a spoiler on the back end so that
air pushes down on the fast car, which increases the apparent weight,
which increases the frictional force. This is good as it makes the car
accelerate more on straight track and more stable on turns
Kids mentioned that race cars can "flip over" if they go too fast. My
question is how does a race car flip over going fast on a long stretch of
straight track.? Ignoring the spoiler, aren't these cars designed so that
they will grip the road better due to the aerodynamics? Or do most cars
become airborne due to interactions with other cars or air currents on the
track?