If a machine has wheels and moves forward, you need to be able to start and stop that movement at will to use it successfully. In most machines – and certainly in cars – this stopping is accomplished with a brake system. In fact, it’s fair to say that it’s the presence of brake systems that has allowed modern transportation to occur and made the wide-scale use of vehicles possible.

Interestingly enough, the introduction of braking systems began not in automobiles, but in trains. Trains went from being no more than an impressive curiosity to a viable system of the transportation of men and materials because of the development of an effective and reliable system of braking. Had this not occurred, the train and all subsequent vehicles would have been meaningless. The importance of this can’t be overstated.

In fact, although you may associate the name Westinghouse with electronics, this company was actually founded with money that came from the development of braking systems for trains. Westinghouse understood that trains would never be an effective means of transportation without reliable brakes, and the same is true of transportation today – all modern braking systems owe a significant debt to these first train brakes.

Today, there are two different types of brakes seen in automobiles – the disc brake and the drum brake. Both of these braking systems work by applying friction to a rotating part that’s attached to the wheels. The difference between these brakes is that drum brakes use two crescent shaped shoes against the rotating drum, while disk brakes clamp a caliper on either side of a rotating disc attached to the wheel.

Both the calipers and the brake shoes are pushed against the rotating part using a system of hydraulics. There’s a limit as to how much fluids can be compressed, meaning that a fairly small amount of pressure – such as that applied to a brake pedal in the car – can provide a significant amount of compression at the other end, on the calipers or brake shoes.

And as both of these systems are based on friction, they’re both called friction brakes. In this way, they’re no different than the child on a tricycle who drags his shoes to come to a stop. However, if you’ve ever watched a child do this, you know what happens to the shoes in question – friction and heat destroys them. The same thing happens to car braking systems, except that the friction and heat are much greater. For this reason, brake parts are coated with substances that help reduce heat and friction wear, and they must be replaced regularly.

Interestingly enough, the massive amount of energy produced during braking is now being used by hybrid cars as a means of generating electricity. Traditionally, this heat and kinetic energy have just been allowed to dissipate and represented a significant amount of the heat and energy waste in running a car. Hybrid car designers, however, realized they could harness this heat and kinetic energy to run generators that create electrical energy that they can store and use to power the car.

As you’re no doubt aware, brakes are a crucial part of the safe operation of a car – so if you ever need work done on your brakes, take it to a professional. Brake work should only be attempted by someone willing to stake their life and the lives of their loved ones, on their ability to perform the necessary repairs. For most people, this means choosing a professional experienced in working with brakes for any maintenance or repairs.