Remember Scooters?

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In Orchestra today, two kids rode past our room on their scooters. After discussing why two 8th graders were getting to school late, we started reminiscing about the scooter days. Remember those Razor scooters that hurt so much when they accidentally swung into your ankles? Yeah, those scooters. So I was one of the fortunate kids to have a scooter and one memory I have of it is the day I learned you must avoid, at all costs, scootering barefoot. Oh yes, bare feet and scooters are not a good combination. I remember wheeling around my driveway and then needing to slow down to turn and head back. I stepped on the brake and all of a sudden my foot got very, very hot. I asked my parents why and they told me that brakes make things hot because of the friction it creates. Now that I'm older, I understand why this heat is created. When you step on the brakes, the friction between the metal and the wheel is increased greatly. Brakes work to bring the kinetic energy to a lower value (reduce the speed). To do so, some energy must be released. This energy is released in the form of heat which I felt on the bottoms of my feet through the metal brake at the back. So, next time you go out and scooter (don't lie to yourself... you know you want to bring that dusty scooter in the corner of the garage back out) think of the physics and enjoy scootering at a whole new level!

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