The 6 Simple Machines
by Whitney :)
In order to make things easier in our lives, we design machines to help us complete tasks with more ease. In this flyer, we will look at the 6 simple machines: lever, wheel and axle, inclined plane, pulley , screw, and wedge
Lever
A lever is one type of simple machine. Levers are rigid bars that is supported at one point. They also have 3 different types of levers; first-class, second-class, and third-class. An example of a first-class lever is a see-saw, in which the fulcrum (the object that holds up the plank) is in the middle. A second-class lever is when the fulcrum is located at the edge of the of the object. An example is a bottle opener. Lastly, third-class levers have the fulcrum located beside the input force, for example, a rake.
Wheel and Axle
A wheel and axle is an axle, or rod, that is connected to a larger wheel. An example of a wheel and axle is a car steering wheel, in which the axle is the rod that connects the wheel to the car and the wheel is, well, the wheel itself.
Inclined Plane
An inclined plane is also another simple machine, which you can recognize if you can see a horizontal plane surface. One of the common examples for this machine is a moving tuck, since the ramp used to push large boxes into the truck has a horizontal plane surface.
Pulleys
A pulley is probably one of the most known simple machine, since the mechanics are easy to know. A pulley consists of a wheel of some sort and a rope wrapped around it. Pulleys are what in one of the most useful thing that is found in the mall; an elevator. The elevator itself is pulled up by the pulleys and help you get to the other floors of the mall.
Screw
A screws' definition is pretty much exactly what it looks like; an inclined plane wrapped around a pole. The looks are very simple and at first you wouldn't think they're not capable of doing the things they do. But, really, they are a good tool to hold things together for a long time, better than tape or glue. The example for this simple machine is...screws!
Wedge
Last but not least, here is the simple machine wedge! A wedge is an object with a minimum of one slanting side that ends in a sharp edge. The example for this simple machine is an axe, where the sides are ending in a sharp edge to help cut wood easier.