Cycling & Air Resistance

Power grows as speed cubed

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Drag grows as $v^2$; the power to overcome it grows as $v^3$.
• Doubling speed needs about 8 times the power.
• Drafting can cut drag by about 30%, giving roughly 13% more speed.

Steps

1. Fighting the air
2. Your top speed
3. Double the speed
4. Pedal power
5. Going faster
6. Drafting