The harder you hit the brakes while driving forward, the more the front end of your car will move down (and the rear end move up). Why? What happens when cars accelerate forward? Why do drag racers not use front-wheel drive only?

The force that can cause an object to rotate along an axis is measured as torque. Similar to how force accelerates an item in linear kinematics, torque accelerates an object in an angular direction. Which is given by

$\overrightarrow{\mathbf{t}}\mathbf{=}\overrightarrow{\mathbf{r}}\mathbf{\times }\overrightarrow{\mathbf{F}}$

Where$\overrightarrow{\mathbf{t}}$ is torque,$\overrightarrow{\mathbf{F}}$ is force and$\overrightarrow{\mathbf{r}}$ is position vector.

Road friction causes the wheels of a rear-wheel-drive vehicle travelling to the left to accelerate backward when the brakes are applied. Since the car's centre of mass is above the wheels, the moment arm at the location where the force acts and the rotation axis there are both downward. We can deduce from the right-hand rule that the torque will cause the automobile to twist against the direction of travel. The front end of the car will slide down and the back end up during a counterclockwise revolution.

The same logic holds true as the car speeds up. The wheels experience a forward force from the road. The force has the same moment arm. The torque will cause the car to rotate clockwise, according to the right hand rule. The front end of the car will travel upward and the tail end downward during a clockwise revolution.

The tire's maximal force against the ground is known as the traction force. The weight on the tire and the coefficient of friction between the tires and the ground both have an impact on traction force. Therefore, the weight of the tires should be raised to improve the traction force on the wheels and subsequently the acceleration of the car. In a rear-wheel drive, as the automobile accelerates, the weight is transferred to the rear side, as we discussed previously. This causes the traction force to rise, which in turn causes the car to accelerate more quickly. On the other hand, as a front-wheel-drive vehicle accelerates, the weight is transferred to the front side of the vehicle, which reduces the traction force. Drag racers don't solely employ front-wheel drive because of this.