Now friction brakes have more than proved their worth: you'll find them in every car, bicycle, airplane, and most factory machines. But they have a big drawback too: every time you use them, they wear out a little bit, and that means they're relatively expensive. What's the ...
For the time being, hub motors are more likely to be retro-fitted to existing cars, so they have to work with existing friction brakes, suspension systems, and so on. That can mean design compromises that undermine some of the advantages of using hub motors in the first place. Torque ...
Hydraulics operate the control surfaces on any large airplane. You see hydraulics at car service centers lifting the cars so that mechanics can work underneath them, and many elevators are hydraulically operated using the same technique. Even the brakes in your car use hydraulics! In this ar...
How Space Stations Work How Satellites Work Meteors burn up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Why doesn't the space shuttle? Can you make a rocket engine using hydrogen peroxide and silver? How do satellites orbit the Earth? How does an oxygen canister on an airplane or a spacecraft ...
“Hey! I don’t know how to use the brakes. What do I do when I land?”“When you get to the ground just put your feet on the top of the pedals and apply a bit of pressure.” Morgan quickly adds, ...
Inventions like the steam engine, electricity, the automobile, the airplane, computing, and the internet have provided many of the building blocks for modern civilization. And, like the printing press itself, AI offers a new tool to genuinely help advance human learning and thought. Guardrails ...
Does dopamine fasting work? It can—when you do it right. But here’s the thing:it’s not magic. The results depend on you—your habits, your brain chemistry, and how often you’ve been running on dopamine highs. Cutting back on distractions isn’t about deprivation—it’s about creatin...
the wings generate lift and the wheel brakes don’t work very well, so they need braking parachutes. This would not do for a transport. The 367-80, therefore, had a low wing to which was affixed the main wheels of a tricycle gear, which folded inward into the fuselage. So in the en...
The wings on a Champ Car work opposite to the way they work on an airplane (see How Airplanes Work for details on airplane wings). On an airplane, the wings provide lift. On a Champ Car, the wings are mounted upside down so that they provide downforce. The downforce keeps the car glu...
To add additional realism to SpaceShipOne pilot training, the White Knight was designed with a high thrust-to-weight ratio and powerful speed brakes. These features help to simulate space flight maneuvers. As an airplane, White Knight is a remarkable craft all on its own. According to Scaled ...