What is torque?

I really don't know anything about cars but could someone give a quick explination about what torque is? Thanks,
Adam S.

Torque is the force put upon the crankshaft, power is this work done over time.

T= F*d

yeah, force * distance, HP is work (TQ) over time (RPM)
more specifically, Torque is the cylinder pressure of the expanding gas times the leverage of the crankshaft journal (reason why you usually see long stroked motors making alot of torque, more leverage) with the rod angle thrown in there as well, but i'm not quite sure how you'd calculate that up.

Here is most simple explanation I could think of. Horsepower is how fast you can go in a given gear, torque determines how fast you can get to that speed.

i dont no what i would do with out theis site!:cry:

even simpler think of a tube put one end into a vise and try to turn it along its axis. you just aplied torque to that pipe.

Originally posted by Deakins
http://www.howstuffworks.com/fpte.htm This is the bible to automotive basics!!


On topic: Torque is the turning force.

Here's an analogy...say there are two bodybuilders and one 200lbs barbell. Bodybuilder A lifts the barbell once and bodybuilder B lifts it 10 times. It's quite obvious that bodybuilder B is doing more work but both are using the same force to lift the weight.

In this case, force:torque as work:horsepower.

Originally posted by Polygon
Here is most simple explanation I could think of. Horsepower is how fast you can go in a given gear, torque determines how fast you can get to that speed.

This is actually wrong.

Mean power output accelerates the car on a given gear.

Power output also determinate top speed.

Torque ia actually worthless in an engine without engine speed, torque multiplied with the angular speed of rotation gives what we want: power.

torque at the wheels is what directly gives acceleration ( but since power and torque are related you could also use power and angular velocity of the wheel to give wheel torque). It is also the friction or traction force at the wheels that pushes the car along, this force can be found from the torque at the wheels. Also the wheel radius and car mass are important factors.

Originally posted by FYRHWK1
yeah, force * distance, HP is work (TQ) over time (RPM)
more specifically, Torque is the cylinder pressure of the expanding gas times the leverage of the crankshaft journal (reason why you usually see long stroked motors making alot of torque, more leverage) with the rod angle thrown in there as well, but i'm not quite sure how you'd calculate that up.
Torque != cylinder pressure != force...

try english bucky, that makes no sense.