Differential Gear System in Automobiles
A differential gear is an arrangement of beveled gears in such a manner such that the input torsion is taken up by a ring gear and distributed equally through two planetary gears to the side gears which drive the shafts on either side. One of the common applications of differential gears is in automobiles. Consider a vehicle following a curved path. As one can easily imagine, the inner wheel covers a shorter distance than the outer wheel. In case the system consists of only a single shaft connecting the inner and outer wheel, both the wheels are forced to turn at the same angular momentum and hence makes turning difficult leading to slippage and binding of tires. In addition to this, the strain on the inner wheels is passed on to the outer wheels through the axle putting undue strain on it. This problem is solved by using the differential gear system. In this, the power of the engine is transferred through a drive shaft and pinion arrangement to the ring gear and the torque is furt...