What does this system need to work?
Labs / General Knowledge
How Car Brakes Work
Pressing the brake pedal squeezes pads against spinning discs. Friction turns the car's motion into heat until the wheels—and the car—stop.
Labs / General Knowledge / How Car Brakes Work
How Car Brakes Work
Pressing the brake pedal squeezes pads against spinning discs. Friction turns the car's motion into heat until the wheels—and the car—stop.
Why it matters
Why explore this?
Everyday objects can seem mysterious until we separate them into simple parts. This model lets you change one factor and see how the whole system responds.
Explore
Try the model
6m stopping
Doubling speed makes stopping distance about four times larger.
Investigate
Questions to test
Predict first, try it in the model, then use what you observe to answer.
What to try
- Compare stopping distance at 30 km/h and 60 km/h. Does it merely double?
- Lower road grip to represent rain or ice. What happens?
- Which change matters more: adding 10 km/h at low speed or at high speed?
- Why is following distance especially important on a fast or slippery road?
Explain
Make sense of what happened
Describe the system as a simple chain: what goes in, what changes inside, and what comes out. Use one observation from the model as evidence.
Check
Before you leave
Which change had the biggest effect?
How would you explain it to someone else?
If you can answer all three using evidence from the model, you understand the main idea. If not, return to Explore and change one setting at a time.