How does a clutch work and why do we need it to change gears smoothly?
In: Engineering
The whole reason you have gears is so they can be different. In LOW gear, the engine’s middle RPM (say 3000) is 20 miles/hour. In a MIDDLE gear the same engine RPM might be 40 miles/hour. When you are going 20 in LOW, you shift to MIDDLE to continue to accelerate. But your massive car is still going 20 miles per hour. In MIDDLE, this is 1500 RPM. If you try to connect an engine running 3000 RPM to a gear going 1500 RPM, stuff’s gonna break. A clutch is a special friction disc system that allows the two to come to a common speed efficiently. There is some other coordination involved in shifting, using your right foot to slow the engine when the clutch is pressed in to remove the load. Beginners tend to do this badly, causing jerky driving.
Latest Answers