CARL ANGELOU A.

LAGMAY BSCPE 4B

ACTIVITY 2

WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM(S) THAT THE AUTOMOBILE WAS SUPPOSED TO SOLVE?

-Inventions change society

The automobile changed many things in the United States. These included changes for
industry and technology and everyday life. Automobile manufacturing became one the first
industries to use the assembly line. The automobile gave people more personal freedom and
access to jobs and services. It led to development of better roads and transportation.
Industries and new jobs developed to supply the demand for automobile parts and fuel.
These included petroleum and gasoline, rubber, and then plastics. Services like gas stations
and convenience stores sprang up.

The automobile gave people access to jobs, places to live, and services. It also contributed to
the rise of leisure activities. And with leisure came new services. These included motels,
hotels, amusement parks and other recreation, restaurants and fast food. The automobile
also brought new laws and government requirements. These included safety features like
seatbelts, highway rules, and drivers' licenses. The automobile also brought harm to the
environment. Exhaust from gas-burning cars brought pollution. And undeveloped land was
used to build highways and related industries.

Photograph of a Ford Model T assembly line in 1913. The factory

was located in Highland Park, MI, near Detroit. This image comes
from the collections of the Library of Congress.

Henry Ford and His Model T: A basic car for everyone made more efficiently

History credits Karl Benz, a German engineer, with inventing the automobile around 1885.
Benz was a German engineer. Other inventors and engineers followed with their own
designs. From the 1880s to about 1910, automobiles were mostly for the wealthy. They were
made by hand. And they were often customized for the buyer.

Henry Ford was a businessman and engineer. He came after Karl Benz, and he revolutionized
the way cars were made. And this had a big impact on society. Ford realized that if he could
use the assembly line to produce one model of car with basic features, he could turn cars out
faster and with less cost. And that would mean that more people would be able to afford an
automobile.
What is an assembly line? An assembly line is a way of manufacturing a product where
different parts and materials are added in a sequence. And different people and machines
complete different parts of the process. The product moves along the assembly line and
begins to take shape as it goes. This is very different from one or two people completing the
product together from start to finish.

Ford applied his idea to build an inexpensive and affordable car. He called it the Model T. The
Ford Motor Company made the Model T from 1908 to 1927. Ford realized that if he could
make manufacturing cars more efficient, he could sell more. And he could reduce the price.
He was absolutely right! Ford didn’t come up with the assembly line idea. But he made it
more efficient. And by making all cars exactly the same, his factories were able to turn out
more cars than his competitors. Between 1913 and 1927, Ford's factories made more than 15
million Model T’s. The first Model T’s took about 12 hours to make. By 1914, it only took
about an hour and a half to make a car. That’s a huge difference! And by 1925, the company
made about 10,000 cars each day. And as manufacturing became more efficient, the price
went down. The first Model T’s cost $825. By 1925, they were selling for $260.

During the same time, North Carolina got its own Ford factory. Ford began assembling cars in
Charlotte in 1914. And in 1924, they built a new plant in the city. It was the largest
automobile factory in the South. It operated there until 1932, when it closed during the Great
Depression.

The automobile changed American society and the lives of women

Photograph of Nell Richardson and Alice Burke in their car,

getting ready to leave New York in 1916 for a cross-country
trip to promote women's suffrage. They called their car the
"Golden Flyer." Image from the collection of the Library of
Congress.

During the first decades of the 20th century, the middle class
was growing in the U.S. And more people could afford to buy
a car. The car changed American society in many ways. People had more freedom and more
free time. And they were able to do more things in their leisure time. People living in urban
areas could escape to the countryside. And people living in the countryside could visit urban
areas.

More cars on the road also helped in the development of paved highways. And along with
more cars and better roads came the suburbs. Suburbs are communities that develop around
cities. And by 1920, there were more than 5 million cars in America.

At the same time, the world was changing in other ways. World War I began in 1914. And just
a few years later the U.S. entered the war. Women's lives were also changing during that
time. And the automobile was part of it. The car gave women more freedom than ever before
to get out and see the world around them. And when men went off to war in 1917, women
back home in the U.S. had to assume many of their traditional roles. Many had to find jobs
and some worked in factories. And more women began driving cars with men away at war.

In the 1910s and 1920s, women and men were also actively trying to change the law so that
women could vote. You might be surprised to learn that women didn’t always have the legal
freedom to vote. And most also didn't have the personal freedom or money to drive. After
more than 50 years of struggle to earn that right, the U.S. Congress passed the 19th
Amendment in 1920.

And the automobile helped them do that. Women drove around with “votes for women”
banners and even gave speeches from their cars. In 1916 two women -- Nell Richardson and
Alice Burke -- made a pretty bold car trip across the country. They set out alone to advocate
for women's right to vote. They decorated their car with messages of “votes for women”. It
was still pretty unusual to see women driving cars, but by doing this they demonstrated their
strength and identity.

WHO REALLY INVENTED THE FIRST MODERN AUTOMOBILE?

-The history of the automobile is a long and winding road, and pinpointing exactly who
invented the car is not a simple matter. But if you rewind the evolution of cars past GPS, past
antilock brakes and automatic transmissions and even past the Model T, eventually you'll get
to the Benz Motor Car No. 1, the missing link between cars and horse-drawn buggies. Karl
Benz patented the three-wheeled Motor Car, known as the "Motorwagen," in 1886. It was
the first true, modern automobile. Benz also patented his own throttle system, spark plugs,
gear shifters, a water radiator, a carburetor and other fundamentals to the automobile. Benz
eventually built a car company that still exists today as the Daimler Group.

WHAT INNOVATIONS WERE INTRODUCED LATER.

- Automobiles have come a long way since Henry Ford rolled the Model T off the assembly
line in Detroit nearly 100 years ago. Indeed, Henry Ford could scarcely imagine the ways in
which the car has evolved and improved over the years. From new safety features to
entertainment units and luxuries such as heated seats, the modern motor vehicle is a marvel
of engineering. And now, we are moving towards completely autonomous self-driving cars.
The car industry is constantly reinventing itself. And each improvement over the years has
built on the ones that have come before it and led us to where we are today. Here’s a look at
the 10 greatest automobile innovations of all time, and the impact that they have had on the
cars we now drive.

10. Global Positioning System (GPS) and Electronic Maps

There was a time, not too long ago, when getting lost in your car was a real and frequent
problem. To find out where you were going required drivers to pull over, pull out a large
paper map, spread it out across the dashboard and try to find, with their fingers, where they
were and where their destination is located. This cumbersome task has largely been
eradicated thanks to the prevalence of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and electronic
maps used in cars today. The electronic mapping technologies used in most vehicles today are
a wonder of science and enable people to get just about anywhere without getting lost.
Advanced cars today have large onscreen displays that put navigation via the GPS right in
their view. Better yet, many of the GPS systems today bark out orders to the driver, telling
them when to turn and which exits to take off the highway to safely reach their destination.
This is a luxury that people could not have imagined even 15 years ago but is now common
place in most vehicles.

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9. Run Flat Tires

Few vehicle parts have evolved over the years as much as tires. From the material that tires
are made of through to the development of all terrain tires and the widespread use of winter
tires. However, of all the innovations related to tires in the last century, the most significant
from a safety perspective is the development of run flat tires. Common in nearly all tires
today, run flat technology enables tires to retain some air and continue operating after they
have been punctured. Granted, the vehicle has to be driven at a reduced speed (about five
miles an hour) and can only go for a short distance (about 10 miles), but, in most situations,
this is enough to safely get people to a garage for needed repairs. This has helped to
eliminate the sight of people changing a tire on the side of a road, and saved countless drivers
money spent on towing. It has also led to improved safety and done away with tire blowouts
that were once common place.
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8. Key Fobs

Today, key fobs are ubiquitous and used to do everything from unlock doors, set off the horn
and lights if you lose your car in a parking lot, and, in some cases, remember how you like
your seat and mirror and adjust them accordingly. Almost everyone today uses a key fob to
open and lock their car. Yet key fobs have only been around since 1993 when they were
introduced for that year’s Chevy Corvette. Now, all cars have key fobs that save people from
having to remember where they parked their car and having to use a key to open the door.
Key fobs have also become an important safety tool, as they are equipped to set off car
alarms in the event that a person is mugged or attacked in a parking lot or parking garage.

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7. Electric Engines

While this technology is still being refined, electric engines are the future of the automotive
industry and more vehicles are being outfitted with them all the time. What started with
hybrid gas and electric engines a decade ago is now moving to pure electric engines capable
of powering a car without the need for any gasoline or diesel. Not only is this a radical change
for the entre automotive industry, but it is expected to save motorists money and help
reduce pollution around the world and stem the flow of greenhouse gases thought to cause
climate change. While many automotive analysts scoffed at hybrid engines when they first
came on the scene, the development of the electric engine has only advanced and improved
in recent years—to the point where they are now becoming the standard in cars.

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6. Airbags

Safety has improved with each generation of car. And one of the most innovative safety
breakthroughs ever has been airbags. And, believe it or not, airbags are still a relatively new
innovation. Wide spread use of airbags began in the late 1980s, and, initially, only the driver
of a car was equipped with an airbag that deployed in the event of a crash or on impact.
However, as it became clear that airbags are incredibly effective at saving lives, use of the
device spread and came to include the front passenger as well. Airbags have continued to
evolve over the years, and they are now responsible for saving thousands of lives each year.
As recently as 2011, General Motors introduced a new front center air bag, which was the
industry’s first inflatable center restraint designed to protect drivers and front passengers in
side impact crashes.

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Digitaltrends.com

5. Power Steering and Power Brakes

It used to be a lot more difficult to drive a car, and it required considerable strength to steer
and apply the brakes. This was in the age before power steering and power brakes. Many
motorists used to breathe heavy when turning the steering wheel in their car, and using the
brakes gave people’s calf muscles a good workout. Now, steering and braking have never
been easier thanks to the invention of “power systems.” Power steering has actually been
around, in theory, since the first cars were manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. But
back then they were considered too expensive to be installed in every vehicle and made
available to the public. It wasn’t until 1951 when Chrysler introduced the first passenger car
equipped with power steering on its Imperial model. Advertised as “Hydraguide,” the new
power steering systems took the automobile world by storm and resonated with a generation
of motorists who had recently returned from the Second World War and were moving to the
suburbs. Power steering is credited with making cars easier to operate and more accessible to
American consumers.

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4. Anti-Lock Brakes

Another critical safety feature is the anti-lock brake. Automobile manufacturers had been
playing with electronic braking systems as far back as the early 1960s, but none could
commercialize the technology. It wasn’t until 1978 when Mercedes-Benz installed the first
Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS) on its production cars for that year that ABS became the new
standard in the global car industry. The computerized braking systems help drivers maintain
control of their vehicle while stopping, and stabilize cars, preventing them from rolling over
on impact. This technology revolutionized the automotive industry, and today ABS is the
standard in all makes and models of vehicles. The technology makes brakes on older model
cars from the 1960s and 1950s look like something out of the Stone Age.

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3. Automatic Transmissions

Automatic transmissions are now largely the standard in cars. Manual transmissions that use
clutch pedals and gear shifting are still available, but have largely been replaced by automatic
transmissions that shift gears electronically and automatically for drivers. And automatic
transmissions have been around since 1940, when General Motors introduced what it then
called the “Hydra-Matic,” the first mass-produced automatic transmission that made it easier
for people everywhere to drive, and learn to drive. General Motors advertised its first
automatic transmission cars as the “World’s Simplest, Easiest Way to Drive!” Today, most
people have never driven a manual transmission car or learned to work a clutch pedal. And
while many driving purists prefer to “drive a stick,” and claim it is the real way to drive a car,
most motorists prefer the convenience of automatic transmissions.

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2. Seat Belts

They are widely regarded as the greatest safety invention in automotive history, and people
are now required to wear them by law in most jurisdictions. But there was a time when cars
did not come equipped with any seat belts, and another time when seat belts were an
optional feature for motorists. American car manufacturer Nash was the first company to
make a vehicle with a seat belt in it back in 1949. The Ford Motor Company, in 1955, offered
seat belts as an option for its cars. The first company to place seat belts in a car as a standard
item was Swedish auto manufacturer Saab in 1958. The world’s first seat belt law making the
safety devices mandatory was put in place in 1970 in Victoria, Australia. Today, research
shows that seat belts reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat occupants by 45 percent, and
lower the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent. Not surprising then that seat belts
are now required by law to be worn in most jurisdictions throughout the world.

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1. Gasoline Engine

While we’re now moving towards the widespread use of electric engines in vehicles, the
gasoline engine has endured for nearly 100 years—since 1920. And yet, the gasoline engine
was not the first type of engine used in cars. It was a steam powered engine that was used
first. However, by 1920, the internal combustion engine had progressed to the point that the
steam engine was rendered obsolete. The gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine took
over and has led to the modern automobile of today. Interestingly, the gasoline engine has
not changed much over the years. The basic make-up of the engine has remained largely
unchanged despite all the other innovations added to motor vehicles. Gasoline internal
combustion engines have gotten generations of motorists where they need to go and
powered the evolution of the car.

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