Title.
When a car has its engine on, the engine is working. But if its in park, the car doesn’t move. How? The engine is still running like if the car was driving, but what mechanism prevents the car from moving?
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Take the chain off your bicycle.
Now pedal as fast as you can.
Your “engine” is working, but you’re not going anywhere. Why?
There’s a part that takes the energy you make, and sends it to the back wheel. That part (the chain) is disconnected, or gone in this example.
In a car, it’s the same thing. There’s a part (called the transmission) that takes the energy from the engine, and sends it to the wheels.
The transmission can be “disengaged” so that there’s no energy going from the engine to the wheels. Pretend it’s like taking the chain off your bicycle.
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