Eli5 clutches and gears

Question

Can someone please explain how the clutch and gears work in a car as I’m learning and I can’t quite understand it

In: 4

Answer 1

They are much most complicated but envision them as [different sizes, like THIS](https://www.vernier.com/files/manuals/kw-bwx/Content/Resources/Images/KidWind/KW_gear_ratios_BW_250x160.png).

*Imagine while you are driving, that whatever gear you’re in is the only one engaged and spinning. It’s in control and the engines job is to make it spin .*

In gear one (1), the smallest gear, you have the most acceleration because it’s so tiny and easy to spin, but lowest top speed, because it takes a bazillion and a half REVOLUTIONS to make it even a small distance. In fact, trying to make it spin to that fast with a machine would not even be practical.

So, in order to give us a little more SPEED thus making us move faster, we want a gear that can go a little bit more with a little bigger turning radius for the speed we are currently moving.

So, we press the clutch, which, sort of unlocks, and unwinds all the levers and chains and gears, and then we move the stick to second gear (2). Then, when letting go of the clutch it locks everything back into place, now surrounding one step up higher than we were before and the car “breathes a little easier” because it’s not trying to spin a matchbox tire sized wheel down a freeway.

Now we are in second gear. A little more speed, a little less acceleration. It basically happens again at some point because gear two is only slightly bigger than one.

*Speed up, we want to go faster. *CLUTCH* *SHIFT**

Third gear. A little more speed, a little less acceleration.

*Speed up, we want to go faster.*

Fourth gear. A little more speed, a little less acceleration. Our acceleration is so bad now because our gear has gotten a lot bigger than first gear. Now, it would be entirely impractical to try to accelerate a car from zero at this point because it’s just so bad.

Top speed. Fifth gear.

Biggest gear with the biggest radius. All we have to do it make it spin a few times a minute because the its just so big it can travel a mile while only spinning a few times. It’s easy to the engine to keep this speed, too, because since its a big gear with a big radius, we have so much momentum.

We’re cruising.