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MC Mechanical

The whole machine

Twenty roots. One subject.

Everything a vehicle does is downstream of physics. Start with the question you have; prerequisites are shown when they help and never used as a lock.

  1. Root 01 · sharedEnergy & ConversionEverything a vehicle does is energy changing form. Start here and the rest follows.1 lesson open
  2. Root 02 · iceCombustionA flame front crossing a cylinder in about two thousandths of a second.Map open · lessons in preparation
  3. Root 03 · iceAir & FuelGetting the right amount of both to the right place at the right moment.1 lesson open
  4. Root 04 · iceIgnitionTiming is not a setting. It is the difference between power and a broken piston.Map open · lessons in preparation
  5. Root 05 · iceRotating AssemblyTurning a straight push into a turning force, thousands of times a minute.Map open · lessons in preparation
  6. Root 06 · iceValvetrain & BreathingAn engine is an air pump. How well it breathes is how much it makes.Map open · lessons in preparation
  7. Root 07 · sharedLubrication & FrictionMetal never touches metal. A film of oil a few microns thick is doing all the work.Map open · lessons in preparation
  8. Root 08 · sharedCooling & Heat RejectionEngines want to be hot. The cooling system stops them being too hot, not cold.Map open · lessons in preparation
  9. Root 09 · sharedElectrical FundamentalsMost "electrical faults" are not electrical. They are connections.1 lesson open
  10. Root 10 · evElectrochemistry & BatteriesStoring energy in a chemical bond and getting it back out on demand.Map open · lessons in preparation
  11. Root 11 · evElectric Machines & Power ElectronicsWhy an electric motor makes full torque before it has turned once.Map open · lessons in preparation
  12. Root 12 · sharedTransmission & Torque MultiplicationTrading speed for force, because an engine only makes power in a narrow band.Map open · lessons in preparation
  13. Root 13 · sharedDriveline & DifferentialsThe outside wheel travels further through a corner. Something has to allow that.Map open · lessons in preparation
  14. Root 14 · sharedSuspension & Weight TransferKeeping the tyres on the road, and deciding which ones carry the load.Map open · lessons in preparation
  15. Root 15 · sharedSteering & GeometryWhat an alignment actually corrects, and why the car self-centres.Map open · lessons in preparation
  16. Root 16 · sharedBraking & Energy DissipationTurning motion into heat fast enough that the tyres get a chance.1 lesson open
  17. Root 17 · sharedTyres & Contact PatchFour patches the size of your hand. Everything else is negotiation.Map open · lessons in preparation
  18. Root 18 · sharedMaterials & FastenersA bolt is a spring you tension on purpose. Torque is only a proxy for that.Map open · lessons in preparation
  19. Root 19 · sharedSensing, Control & DiagnosticsWhat a fault code tells you, and — more usefully — what it does not.Map open · lessons in preparation
  20. Root 20 · iceEmissions & AftertreatmentCleaning up what combustion leaves behind, and why it needs the mixture exact.Map open · lessons in preparation