Wheel and Axles
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    The wheel and axle is a combination of two wheels of different sizes that rotate together.  A wheel or crank is attached to and turned by an axle in this machine.  The long less-forceful movement of the wheel is changed by a short more forceful movement of the axle. This machine exchanges force for distance like all other simple machines. 

    A wheel and axle can be seen as a type of a lever.  If one thinks of a seesaw and imagines it as a circular board one can see how this is a lever (it is a seesaw extending in all directions from the fulcrum).  A smaller person makes the ride go around by using a little force and going a long distance, whereas a larger boy makes the ride turn by using a large force over a small distance.  Both the smaller and the larger boys do the same amount of work but do it in different ways.  The larger boy and child turn the ride with the same force but are sitting at different distances from the fulcrum.  The larger boy sits closer to the fulcrum whereas the smaller boy sits farther from the fulcrum.  This turning force that results is called torque.

    The IMA for a wheel and axel is:

r_w
r_a

r_w is the radius of the wheel and r_a is the radius of the axel.

This Page was last edited on Thursday, July 27, 2000 .

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