What is hydraulics and why is it relevant to land vehicles?
In: Engineering
Hydraulics is using a liquid inside of a tube to transfer force from one area to another. Besides an automatic transmission, power steering and probably the oil pressure system of an engine hydraulics are used in braking. Your transferring the foot pressure on the brake pedal through hydraulics to the brake pads at your tires stopping your vehicle.
Have you seen those syringe cranes in science textbooks? Sane principle. It basically has to do with pressure and force.
Pressure = Force/Area. and Force = Pressure × Area
So you have a tube with an area A1 connected to your brake pedal. You step on it with F1 force. So your pressure is F1/A1.
this tube is connected with another tube that is in turn connected with the brake pads.
The second tube has a much larger area. Since fluid (brake fluid) is not compressible, the pressure on the pedal tube and pad tube is same. So if you increase the area of the second tube, you get a higher force because Force = Pressure × Area.
This way you can deliver more braking force to your wheels more than what puny human legs can provide.
this is also used for steering, suspension etc.
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