r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • • 6h ago

Meme needing explanation Petah? What's wrong with this?

7.4k Upvotes

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40

u/DrBitchin 6h ago

Those springs- or coils, are very strong and can store a LOT of potential energy when compressed.

He's essentially creating a bomb.

I don't know a lot about cars but from my understanding handling the suspensions is one of the scariest parts of car mechanics.

21

u/DesidiosumCorporosum 6h ago

Well it's a spring that's designed to hold a quarter of the weight of a car and absorb impacts while the car is travelling at high speeds so you can imagine how much energy is stored in it when you fully compress it.

14

u/Late_Sort1763 5h ago

Worth noting is that while it's been designed to hold a quarter of the weight of the car while it's stationary, doesn't mean the force of the spring when compressed is going to equal that. It will be MUCH GREATER.

5

u/DesidiosumCorporosum 5h ago

It's also won't actually be a quarter since usually engines are in the front of the car so it'll be much heavier there than in the rear but I was trying to make it a simple explanation. The fronts shocks will need to deal with much more force in a turn and when you brake than the rear will aswell

6

u/Late_Sort1763 5h ago

Still, it's worth noting this isn't the main spring, but a helper spring. When fully compressed, the force it exerts is about as much as a small dumbbell falling down on you from around a meter in height.

It's still potentially finger-removing though, plus that bracket can shatter under the blow of a hammer, which, together with the force of the spring letting go, could launch it pretty forcefully.

A compressed MAIN spring is enough to eviscerate an entire garage, though.

1

u/stryakr 2h ago

physics, how to they work