Wheel and axle – Simple machines – Physics
An Egyptian potter uses a pottery wheel, about 2000 BC. He uses his hand to spin the wheel. Wheels do not exist in nature, and no animals use them except [...]
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08, 2017
What is a wedge? – Simple machine – Physics
What is a wedge? This stone hand-ax from Chennai, India is a kind of wedge. A wedge is a kind of inclined plane What is a wedge? Like screws, wedges are [...]
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08, 2017
Screw – Simple machines – Physics
A cider press with big wooden screws What is a screw? People always count screws as a separate kind of simple machine. But really screws are just one kind of inclined plane. [...]
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08, 2017
Movable pulley – Simple machines – Physics
Bike hoist pulleys A movable pulley is a way to use a pulley to make it easier to move heavy things - to get a mechanical advantage. In the picture, someone is [...]
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08, 2017
Pulley – Simple machines – Physics
Clothesline pulley A pulley is really a kind of wheel, just as a screw is a kind of inclined plane. But pulleys are so important that people give them their own category. A pulley [...]
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08, 2017
Types of lever – Simple machines – Physics
Types of lever: What kind of lever is a see-saw? Three types of lever All levers fall into one of three types of lever. How can we tell which lever [...]
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08, 2017
Levers – Simple machines – Physics
Levers: An orangutan child using a stick as a lever What is a lever? A lever is basically just a long stick that you push or pull against a fulcrum [...]
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08, 2017
Simple machines – Physics
An example of a screw, a wedge, a wheel and axle, and a lever Machines are ways to make it easier to do work. Many plants and animals have evolved natural [...]
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08, 2017
Inclined plane – Simple machines
An inclined plane: Earth ramp to the fortress at Masada (Thanks to www.HolyLandPhotos.org) What is an inclined plane? An inclined plane is any slope or ramp, like a wheelchair ramp [...]
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08, 2017
What is friction? Definition of friction
Definition of friction: Hands rubbing together is a kind of friction Definition of friction Friction is what happens when any two things rub against each other. These can be solid [...]
