Setting up a second monitor

[Antony Gelberg]

Daniel Carrera wrote:
> Karl Auer wrote:
> 
>>> You can answer all of those questions, and get a decent knowledge of 
>>> how a car works, without understanding the internal combustion engine.
>>
>>
>> Of course. But only via an ever-expanding set of rules about what to do
>> and what not to do.
> 
> 
> No, I'm thinking of things like "the radiator uses water to keep the 
> engine cool so it won't melt". 

But that's not true.  An overheating engine would stop running long 
before it melts.

Here you have a relatively small bit of
> knowledge that is enough to know what the radiator does and why it's 
> important, and without having to understand the Otto cycle (which has 
> nothing to do with radiators anyways).
> 
>>> don't need to understand the Otto cycle to understand gears (heck, 
>>> anyone who has riden a bicycle understands gears).
>>
>>
>> No - and people who don't understand gears will happily halve the life
>> of a car by revving it too low. You can add another rule, but...
> 
> 
> So in this case, I would explain gears without explaining the Otto 
> cycle. Gears are easy enough to explain ("it's just like bicycles, you 
> choose the correct gear or the engine will work too hard and eventually 
> break").

Not true either.  It's more to do with fuel economy and refinement, not 
to mention avoiding the engine labouring, fwiw.  I could drive around 
town all day in second gear and my engine would be no more likely to 
break than if I drove around town using all gears.