Simple Machines

What is a Simple Machine?

According to Webster's Dictionary, a simple machine is "any of various elementary mechanisms formerly considered as the elements of which all machines are composed and including the lever, the wheel and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw"

What REALLY is a Simple Machine?

In simplest terms (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), a simple machine is a noncomplex singular device that often makes up other much larger devices. There are six different types:

The Lever

The Wheel/Axle

The Inclined Plane

The Wedge

The Screw

The Pulley

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OOOPS!

Levers are a very useful device that we use everyday in things like wheelbarrows, car jacks, tweezers/tongs, and bottle openers. There are three types of levers: first class, second class, and third class. 

First class levers have the fulcrum in the center with the load on the left with a downward force and the effort on the right with a downward force.

This is a first class lever. They are things like scissors and seesaws.

Second class levers have the fulcrum at the end with the load in the middle pushing down and the force at the other end with an upward force.

This is a second class lever. They are things like bottle openers and staplers.

Third class levers have the fulcrum at the end, very similar to the second class lever, with the effort in the center pushing up and the load at the other end pushing down.

This is a third class lever. They are things like a baseball bat and tweezers or tongs.

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This is what happens when a hamster meets a simple machine...

A wheel and axle are two components that make up devices found everyday, everywhere...CARS! A wheel and axle consists of one circular vessel and one pole that the circular vessel spins on. When this pole is sandwiched with a vessel on both ends, it is called an axle and two axles make up the wheel system of a car. This is a better diagram that shows the parts.

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An inclined plane is a device that is used to carry things that are hard to move up large heights gradually. The key to an inclined plane is that they are usually long and form some sort of triangle. They are useful because it is much easier to move something slowly up a gradual incline then to carry something directly upwards.

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Wedges are beautiful shoes with a gradual heel..... OOOPS! Just Kidding.

Wedges are a simple machine used for many different things. Wedges are a device mostly used to push apart, lift, or hold something in place. Wedges are often used on axes, as door stops, and as part of chisels.

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Simple Machines...Gotta Love 'Em!

A Screw is a device that was basically an inclined plane wrapped around a pole. The threads of the screw, when twisted and plugged into something, hold the screw in place. Archimedes' Screw was the first screw. His screw twisted and brought water up the shaft and out of a well to the people of Syracuse.

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A Pulley is a device that consists of a length of rope threaded through a metal wheel that is attached to a load. When pulled, the rope lifts the load and carries it upwards. There are three different types.

A fixed pulley is where the pulley is connected to a structure. The load is pulling on one end of the rope and a person pulls the other end.

This is a fixed pulley. They are things like wells and cranes.

A movable pulley has a load that is attached to the pulley itself while a rope threads through it forming a "U" shape.

This is a movable pulley. They are used in things like elevators and modern gyms.

A compound pulley or a block and tackle pulley is a combination of a fixed pulley and a movable pulley. These typically consist of at least 2 or more individual pulleys. 

This is a block and tackle pulley. They are used in things like raising sails and cargo.

SOURCES

Google Images

www.merriam-webster.com

The New World Encyclopedia