Automobile or Related Car Terms

Liquid sources of energy and blending components produced from biomass feed-stocks, used primarily for transportation:Biofuel is a type of solid, gaseous, or liquid fuel, made without using petroleum, which can be used in an ordinary internal combustion engine.

Biofuels can be produced from such things as sugar cane and vegetable oil.

A medium-energy-content gaseous fuel: Biogas generally contains 40 to 80 volume percent methane, produced from biomass by methane fermentation (anaerobic digestion).

Any device designed to slow or to stop the motion of a vehicle or machine by the use of friction in a controlled manner: A brake is a mechanical device that stops a car by converting its kinetic energy into heat.

Most cars use disk brakes, which use pads to cause friction against disks inside the wheels to slow them down or to stop them.

An engine's horsepower measured without the loss in power caused by the gearbox, generator, differential, water pump, and other auxiliaries: Brake horsepower (abbreviated as bhp or b.hp) is determined by a brake attached to the drive shaft and recorded on a dynamometer (device used in testing for efficiency and torque).

The point where the weight of an object appears to be concentrated, usually near its middle: Cars with a high center of gravity are more likely to topple over when they go round corners.

Referring to something that acts or moves in a direction toward the axis or center of rotation: One example of centripetal force is a car turning in which the friction between the tires and the street gives the inward force needed to keep the car proceeding in a circular course.

The force that is required to keep an object moving around a circular path: Centripetal force is directed towards the center of the circle. In the absence of this effect, the object would move in a straight line tangential to the circle or keep going in a straight line.

Cars need aid or assistance going around corners, so objects tend to travel in straight lines unless centripetal force bends their motion around into a curve.

The condition of being able to burn: burn ability: The combustibility of many materials are present in homes, like paper, furniture,or chemical cleansers, when exposed to heat, flames, or sparks.

Describing a material that is able to burn: A combustible substance is relatively difficult to ignite and slow to burn, as opposed to a "flammable" material that burns relatively easily.

1. The process of burning a fuel with oxygen from the air to release energy, producing steam and carbon dioxide as byproducts: When a match is struck, energy is released by the process of combustion.

Unless things burn completely, toxic exhaust gases, such as carbon monoxide and other forms of pollution, are also produced.

2. An act of burning and a chemical reaction (oxidation) to produce heat, work, light, etc.. There are two main products of combustion, water vapor and carbon dioxide.

The main shaft or rod of an internal combustion engine: A crankshaft is a rotating axle that carries power from the pistons in an engine to the gearbox.

Crumple zones exist at the front and the back of a car and these areas are deliberately designed to crumple up like an accordion when a collision takes place.

Such actions slow the car's deceleration and dramatically reduces the impact forces. Just three feet (one meter) of crumpled car can cut the forces reaching the passengers by 90 percent.

A strong metal canister inside a car's engine where fuel is burned to produce heat energy.

Most cars have between two and twelve cylinders.

A type of engine that compresses the air before the fuel is injected so it ignites without the need for a spark plug.

Diesel engines burn heavier oil than gasoline, and are more efficient than gasoline engines. They produce high torque at relatively low speeds which is ideal for trucks and buses.

A pumpkin-shaped gearbox that allows the wheels on opposite sides of a car to turn at different speeds when going around a corner.