questions on a transmission

Ok, so I don't know much on transmissions. I have a couple of questions. I'm not sure if this post is in the right category. I know this may be alot of typing for someone to answer but any answers would be nice.

1.How does a manual transmission work?

2.How does the clutch work?

3.How does a stock clutch differ from ones that are supposed to be better or preformance clutches?

I'm not looking to change my clutch or get preformance parts. I'm just intrested to see how all this works. Any answers are greatly appreciated.

For the first two, you might try searching at How Stuff Works (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission.htm). Many of the aftermarket performance clutch manufacturer's websites would likely give you all kinds of details as to why their product is better than stock.

-Rod