Automotive Science

Study Notes

The scientific method is a series of steps used to solve problems and eliminate errors.
It is the foundation of automotive diagnosis and involves observing, formulating explanations, testing, and verifying.
The "five whys" method is often used to find the root cause of a problem.
Energy in the form of chemical, mechanical, and electrical energy is involved in the operation of an automobile.
Torque is a rotating force measured in pound-feet or Newton-meters.
Work is accomplished when force is applied to an object and it moves a certain distance.
Power is the rate of doing work and is expressed in foot-pounds per minute.
Horsepower is the power produced by an engine and is measured with a dynamometer.
Sir Isaac Newton's three laws of motion explain the behavior of objects in motion.
Kinetic energy is the energy of mass in motion and is determined by an object's mass and speed.
Kinetic energy increases proportionally as weight increases.
Kinetic energy increases as the square of its speed.
If the weight of a moving object doubles, its kinetic energy also doubles.
If the speed of a moving object doubles, the kinetic energy becomes four times as great.
Inertia is the resistance to being put in motion and the tendency to remain in motion.
The weight of an object is the force of gravity on the object and may be defined as the mass times the acceleration of gravity.
A vehicle traveling at twice the speed has exactly four times as much kinetic energy.
The relationships between weight, speed, and kinetic energy have significant practical consequences for the brake system engineer.
If vehicle A weighs twice as much as vehicle B, it needs a brake system that is twice as powerful.
The energy required to slow or stop a vehicle must be absorbed by the braking system.