To me, it is understandable that most laypersons don't understand the physics of friction brakes.
What is surprising is that so many "car guys" don't either - like the two seen in this car.
Brakes don't stop a car by "grabbing the rotor/drum to slow it down".
Uhhh, yeah, I think that is the simplest way to explain it. You can use more complicated words to describe the action of "braking" like.....The clamping force of the caliper or expanding of the drum shoes create friction which results in heat which is dissipated, etc.
A car can be first started and backed out of the driveway and the brakes will stop the car even though almost no heat has been generated or dissipated yet. The brakes did stop the car by creating a friction between the brake pads/shoes and rotor/drum.
Sometimes people are trained to understand matters in a way that falls far outside the way that is simple to explain to others.
An A/C guy I know gets all pissy when someone says that air conditioning cools the air. He is always quick to state that NO, the air conditioning removes the heat from the air, making it cooler.
So what...? The result is the same.
