physics

MotoStudent

MotoStudent is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand MotoStudent rather than just read about it. In short: MotoStudent is a biennial competition between students from universities around the whole world that consist in that these students design, manufacture and develop a prototype of competition motorcycle over a year and a half. Finally, these prototypes compete in an event at MotorLand Aragón, a circuit situated in Alcañiz, in Aragón, Spain.

Key takeaways

MotoStudent belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect MotoStudent to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of MotoStudent from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

MotoStudent is a biennial competition between students from universities around the whole world that consist in that these students design, manufacture and develop a prototype of competition motorcycle over a year and a half. Finally, these prototypes compete in an event at MotorLand Aragón, a circuit situated in Alcañiz, in Aragón, Spain. Since the beginning of the competition, universities from 20 countries have participated in some edition.

History This competition was born in Aragón, Spain, becoming an alternative to Formula SAE. On it, students must, on the one hand, present a viable project for the mass production of a motorcycle that they themselves design (calling this part of the competition as MS1), and on the other, manufacture the designed motorcycle, to later evaluate its performance in a final event alongside the rest of the participants (receiving the name of MS2). Initially, the only existing category was for prototypes with petrol engine, being a 125 cc and 2-stroke engine from Gas Gas brand. This first edition, in which 23 teams participated, mostly Spanish and Italian, culminated in autumn 2010, with a final event on the MotorLand Aragón track, where the final event of the competition has been held each edition since. The second edition took place between 2011 and 2012, with lower reception, as the number of registered teams was reduced to 18. In this new edition the regulations were adapted to become similar to the newly created moto3 category, replacing the engine used in the previous edition by a 4-stroke and 250 cc, this time, made by Yamaha. In the third edition, held between 2013 and 2014, the number of participating teams increased to 33, consolidating this event at an international level. Sherco was the brand of the engines supplied to the participants on this occasion. In the fourth edition, which took place between 2015 and 2016, a category for 100% electric prototypes was included for the first time. On this occasion, 35 teams are registered in the "petrol" category, powered by a Honda engine, while 17 new teams decide to venture into the newly created "electric" category. The fifth edition, carried out between the years 2017 and 2018, represents the continuity of the competition in both categories, as it has a high acceptance by increasing to 47 teams registered in the petrol category, and to 27 in the electric. The brand that supplied the gasoline engines on this occasion was KTM. The sixth edition should have been held between 2019 and 2020, but due to the exceptional situation derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, various postponements took place that lengthened the duration until 2021, with the competition taking place definitively in July of the year. 88 were the teams registered between the two categories, being the historical maximum of participation. To date, it has been the only edition in which an engine model has been repeated in the petrol category, being again supplied by KTM. During the seventh edition, carried out between the years 2022 and 2023, 32 teams participated in the Petrol category and 48 in the Electric category. Also for this edition, the combustion engine is supplied by KTM (SXF 250cc); the electric motor, instead, by Circe. The eighth edition of MotoStudent is now underway.

List of winners The prizes that are distributed in the competition are for the best project (MS1), the best design, the best innovation, the best team adding the points from MS1 plus those from MS2 (global), the best rookie, as well as the three first classified in the MS2 phase, as this is the most relevant as it reflects the behavior of the prototypes in competition.

Podium in the "Petrol" MS2 category

Podium in the "Electric" MS2 category

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with MotoStudent

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what MotoStudent claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to MotoStudent before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about MotoStudent ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of MotoStudent

In research: MotoStudent appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses MotoStudent in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: MotoStudent is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mechanical engineering competitions, Student sports competitions, World motorcycle racing series, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for MotoStudent outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study MotoStudent in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what MotoStudent means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain MotoStudent out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is MotoStudent in simple terms?

Why does MotoStudent matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study MotoStudent?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on MotoStudent.