A brake system is arguably one of the most important systems in a vehicle. It is a hydraulic system that transfers the pressure of the drivers foot against the pedal to the wheels of the vehicle. Cars originally only had one system, meaning if there was a problem with the brakes the driver would be unable to stop. In the late sixties (1967) a federal law was passed requiring all automobiles to be equipped with two brake systems. If one system had a problem the driver would still have some braking power. There are two types of dual systems, one is a front/rear split and the other is diagonal. The front/rear split is not as effective as the diagonal split. It's lines are divided between the front two wheels and the back two. The problem with that is the front brakes do approximately seventy percent of the breaking on a vehicle, so if a vehicles front brakes went, the driver would only have about thirty percent of his or her breaking power. A diagonal system includes one front and one rear wheel, so if a system has a problem the driver will have half the breaking power.
The system utilizes hydraulics and leverage. It takes a large amount of force to stop a vehicle, therefore the pressure applied by the driver has to be multiplied. The master cylinder converts the motion of the pedal being pressed into hydraulic pressure. It contains two pistons, each for one half of the system. As the brake pedal is depressed the master cylinder's piston assembly shifts, applying pressure to fluid, which travels out through ports. The fluid then enters the brake lines, usually made of steel and copper. When the fluid reaches the wheel cylinder, pistons are pushed outward forcing the brake shoes or pads to contact the drum or rotor. Most vehciles have discs in the front and drums in the rear, however four wheel discs do exist. I was bored, and couldn't sleep :-P
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If you really get bored enough to do all this you should get the "Stumble Upon " button. It brings you to websites with really cool stuff. For instance, to be on topic with cars, this site I stumbled upon (http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2009/02/will-you-perceive-event-that-kills-you.html) describes how quickly a car reacts to a crash compared to a humans brain. You can get the stumble button here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/
Now, about brakes. Do you know of a way to suppress brake dust? My parents car accumulates an amazing amount of brake dust on the rims in a very short time. We do clean the car often (my mom has a case of clean car OCD).
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