Brakes are one of the most important safety features your car has. Without them, you would have to slow down by turning off the engine, opening up the emergency brake, and pushing on the gas pedal in order to bring your car to a stop. With brakes it’s easy – just push your foot on the brake pedal until you come to a complete stop!
Brakes convert kinetic energy into heat when they rub against rotors. This heat slows or stops your vehicle because it converts dynamic motion into thermal energy that can’t be converted back into motion again. It does this by rubbing two surfaces together which transfers kinetic energy from one object (your vehicle) onto another (your brake pad and rotor).
What happens when you step on a brake pedal?
A braking system is composed of many parts, so let’s break it down into its individual components. When you push your foot down on the brake pedal with your car either at a stop or in motion, an electrical current from the brake booster runs through cables to each wheel where it reaches a hydraulic cylinder attached to each calliper. This closes off that chamber from the rest of the system, allowing fluid pressure to build up inside that particular cylinder until it pushes against callipers’ pistons which then apply pressure to pads squeezing them against rotors; this causes a resistive force that slows or stops your engine.
Different types of brakes
There are many different types of brakes. Linear-pull or cable brakes use a cable to move the brake arms, which push against the wheel (rim). Disc brakes work as they sound – they have a disc with grooves cut into them that spins with tires. The grooves press against pads mounted on the wheel’s hub, similar to how callipers work in most modern cars. A drum brake consists of shoes inside a drum that is attached to the wheel (rim). When you step on the brake pedal, it causes pistons inside hydraulic cylinders to compress fluid inside those cylinders, this fluid pressure then travels through hoses and pushes against the pads in each drum shoe, creating friction between the internal surfaces of the drums and the rotating rims.
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