Car Brakes and Car Do You Know?

# There are lots of things all around us

# Exciting things that surround us

-# But how does it work?

-Do you know?

-# How is it made?

-Do you know?

# Things that go up, things that go down

# Things that go pop! Things that go round

# With special cameras to show you inside

# It's going to be a big surprise

-# But how does it work?

-Do you know?

-# How is it made?

-Do you know?

-# Do you know?

-Let's find out! #

Hello, I'm Maddie. And today, I'm going for a drive in the car.

Off we go!

Do you travel in a car?

I really like to walk places,

but when I need to go somewhere that's far away,

the car will get me there quickly.

There are lots of buttons, knobs and levers inside cars,

and this is a steering wheel.

When I turn it, the car turns too.

And can you see down by feet? There are some pedals.

And this one is called the accelerator.

When I press it, the car goes faster.

But if I want to stop or slow down,

I press this pedal.

It's called the brake. Shall we see them working?

Let's take a look.

I'm pressing the accelerator,

and the car is going faster.

And now, I'm pressing the brake, and the car stops.

Brilliant! But how do car brakes stop the car?

Do you know how car brakes work?

Let's find out.

BEEP BEEP!

To see how car brakes work, I've come to a garage.

A garage is a place you come to if a car needs to be checked or fixed.

Have you ever been to a garage before?

This is one of the car's wheels.

This is the tyre, and the metal bit in the middle is called the rim.

But if you look through the rim, can you see there's another metal disc?

That is part of the car's brakes,

but we can't see it very well, can we?

I've got an idea.

Paul is a mechanic, and he's going to help show us the car's brakes.

LIFT WHIRS

The car is being lifted on this special lift.

This is how mechanics get under a car

to safely fix things when they go wrong.

Listen to the sound of it.

LIFT WHIRS

It's noisy, isn't it?

And it must be really strong to lift an entire car!

It's very high up, isn't it?

Now the car is high up, we can get a better look at the brakes.

You should never play in a garage or around cars,

but I've got special permission to go underneath the car

with my special camera.

Wow! So, this is what the underneath

of a car looks like.

This is amazing! You never usually get to see this, do you?

Look at all of the cables and bits of pipe.

But, if we come to the front, we're looking for the brakes.

And here is one of the car wheels.

And this bit is the tyre, but if you look inside the wheel,

can you see that metal circle?

That is called the brake disc.

And if you look just here, can you see that piece of metal?

That is called a calliper,

and the calliper fits either side of the brake disc.

And inside the calliper,

there are two things called brake pads.

So the brake pads, the calliper, and the brake disc all make the car

slow down and stop.

But to find out how the brakes work, we need to look inside the car.

BEEP BEEP!

When a car is moving,

the wheels on the car turn round.

Behind each wheel is a metal circle called a brake disc.

This goes round at the same speed as the wheel.

To make the car slow down, the driver presses the brake pedal

inside the car with their foot.

The brake pedal moves a lever which pushes against

a metal cylinder with springs inside it.

As the springs are squeezed, a special liquid called brake fluid

is released.

The brake fluid travels down a pipe to the wheel

and flows into the calliper.

This pushes the brake pads onto the brake disc,

and slows it down until the wheels and the car stop moving.

BEEP BEEP!

So, that's how brakes work.

The mechanic has taken the car wheel off for us,

so now we can clearly see the brake disc,

the calliper,

and the brake pads.

But I've got some other brake pads for us to get a close look at.

These are brake pads. One of them is new,

and one of them is old.

Do you know how we can tell which is which?

Well, look at the size difference.

This is the old one,

and it's much, much thinner.

That's because, as it's been used over time,

it's worn away.

Let's take a closer look at the surface of the brake pads

using my special camera.

This is a microscope,

and it lets us see very small things in close detail.

So, let's have a look at the new brake pad.

Wow! Can you see, the surface is rough.

It looks like lots of little stones.

Almost like a road, doesn't it?

And it's this rough surface that presses against the side of

the brake disc, which slows down and stops our car.

But now lets take a look at the old brake pad.

This one is shiny and smooth where it's been used and worn down.

Because it's shiny and smooth, it won't slow the brake disc down

as quickly as the pad with the rough surface.

It would be slippery.

We want our brake pads to have a rough surface, like this.

I loved seeing how car brakes worked.

What was your favourite bit?

Do you remember the name of the metal circle that spins around

next to the car's wheel?

That's right - it's the brake disc.

Did you hear the sound the lift made when the car was lifted up

so we could see underneath it?

LIFT WHIRS

And did you see what the brake pads looked like

when I used my special camera?

Fantastic. So, now you know how car brakes make a car stop.

There are lots of types of car, aren't there?

If you look around me, there are all sorts.

They come in different colours. Some are big, and some are small.

But do you know how cars are made?

Let's find out.

BEEP BEEP!

Well, to find out how a car is made, I've come here,

to a huge car factory.

Every car here starts off as one of these...

a big roll of metal called steel.

The rolls of steel are loaded into a machine called a decoiler.

It rolls the steel out and flattens it.

The flattened steel is then cut into

squares called blanks inside this machine.

Listen to the sound it makes...

CLACKEDY-CLACK!

It sounds like a train going over tracks!

Each blank goes through this machine.

It's called a press.

Inside, a heavy weight pushes down

on the flat piece of metal

to give it the shape of a car part.

It's a bit like a very heavy stamp.

But do you know what car parts these are going to be?

Can you see? It's a car door.

As well as car doors, the press cuts out bonnets,

that's the front of the car,

car roofs, and the long pieces that make the sides of the car.

So many parts!

It's amazing, isn't it?

And all these cut-out car parts are called panels.

When the panels are ready, they're taken to the

next area of the factory, called the body shop.

The body shop is HUGE, and this is where all the different

parts of the car come together.

But can you see that as well as production workers,

there are lots and lots of robots?

There is so much going on inside the body shop.

I'm going to use my special camera to catch as much action as possible.

Are you ready? Let's go.

These robots are putting on the sides of the car.

And these robots are doing something called welding,

where they use very hot metal as glue

to stick the panels together.

The sparks look great, don't they?

And these robots check the car over,

before it's sent on to the next stage.

When all the panels have been attached together, you get this.

It's called the shell.

It's really beginning to look like a car, isn't it?

Next, the car shell has to be painted a colour.

But first, it gets dipped in this big tank of liquid,

which protects the car from the weather.

When metal isn't protected from weather,

like rain or snow,

it goes rusty. Like these nails.

They look brown and mucky, don't they?

And we wouldn't want our car to look like that.

After the cars have been dipped,

these robots coat them with a layer of paint, called primer.

Next, the car is sprayed with a top coat of paint.

Can you guess what colour this car is going to be?

This car is silver.

And it looks lovely and shiny, doesn't it?

But the car is still just a shell.

What do you think is missing?

This is the bottom part of the car, and it's called the buck.

The buck is made up of the engine and the brakes.

But where did all the shells go?

The shell is lowered down onto the buck

and the two parts of the car are fixed together.

This part of the factory is called the general assembly line,

and it's where the production workers put the car together.

First, they put in the dashboard.

The dashboard is the bit at the front of the car

where there are lots of buttons and dials.

Then, it's time for the seats.

The wheels are fitted.

And don't forget the steering wheel!

Finally, the cars are tested to make sure they're safe to drive.

And here it is, one finished car ready to be driven away.

What was your favourite bit about seeing how a car is made?

Do you remember the name of the metal used to make the cars?

That's right - it's steel.

Did you hear the sound the machine made when it cut the steel

into shapes?

CLACKEDY-CLACK!

And did you see the car being dipped into

a big tank to protect it from rusting?

So, the next time you see a car, or go for a ride in one,

you'll know how it's made. And now you know how car brakes work.

I'll see you next time.

# There are lots of things all around us

# Exciting things that surround us

-# But how does it work?

-Do you know?

-# How is it made?

-Do you know?

-# Do you know?

-Let's find out! #