Answer to Question #98798 in Mechanics | Relativity for Christiana

Question

State the energy transformation that occur when a car is brought to rest by its break.

Answer 1

A moving car has kinetic energy. When you press the brake pedal, the brake pads are pressed against the wheel disks, which, when braking sharply, prevent the wheels from rotating, blocking them; in this process, a certain amount of heat is released on the contact surface of the plate-discs. Now the wheels do not rotate and the car is skidding; at the place of contact of the wheels and the road surface, significant frictional force acts, which leads to heating of both the wheels and the roadway; in this way, the kinetic energy of a moving car goes into heat. When all the kinetic energy goes into heat, the car will stop.