Today’s modern hydraulic brake systems do a great job of bringing a moving vehicle to a screeching halt.

But have you ever given much thought to how that magic happens? Like for example, how some slight pressure from your right foot can bring down several thousand pounds of iron and steel?

It’s all thanks to the principles of hydraulic force amplification and distribution originally laid out by a guy named Blaise Pascal way back in the 17th century.

Want to learn more?

Without going into a full-blown physics course, the braking brainiacs at Brembo have a series of instructional videos that do a great job of explaining the science behind a modern hydraulic brake system.

brake system design illustration
(Image/The Brembo YouTube Channel)

Knowing the science behind a hydraulic system can be really, really beneficial when, say, you’re doing a drum-to-disc swap or upgrading from a manual to power-assist master cylinder. And the Brembo folks present all the information with simple, intuitive animation.

So if you really want to nerd-out on some basic physics and give yourself some valuable brake know-how along the way, check out these two videos from Brembo below.

Video 1: The Science Behind Hydraulic Systems

Video 2: A Closer Look at Hydraulic Brake Components

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