The wheel and axle is one of the most important simple machines and has been recorded as helping people do work since as early as 3500 BC. A wheel and axle is a machine made of a large wheel attached to a post, or axle.
Click on the link listed below. Here you will find a great explanation of a wheel and axle along with examples and real-life applications of this simple machine!
Click on the link listed below. Here you will find a great explanation of a wheel and axle along with examples and real-life applications of this simple machine!
Wheels help people do work in two ways. First, like the other simple machines we discussed, wheels make doing work easier for a longer amount of time rather than doing hard work for a shorter amount of time. If you turn a wheel attached to an axle, the axle will also turn. It is easy work to turn the wheel, but it takes a lot of turning in order to make the wheel go all the way around. The axle will go around a much shorter distance, but requires more force. You can move a heavy object by spinning a large wheel and axle that is attached to the object. The second way wheels make work easier is by doing the opposite. Using a lot of force to turn the axle will make the wheel spin very quickly.
The diagram pictured below shows the parts of a wheel and axle and how they work together in order to turn.
Take a look at the site linked below. It explains how a wheel and axle work and the mechanical advantage (the advantage gained by using the machine) of using this simple machine. For those of you that need a little help reading the information, there is an audio clip at the bottom of the screen that reads the information on the site aloud.
Watch this video about a wheel investigation. Note the effort it takes to move a heavy load with and without wheels. How does adding wheels to the load change the effort and amount of work done?
Take a look at some of the examples of a wheel and axle. How many of these do you see in your everyday life?
How do some of the above examples help us “make work easier”? Think about beating an egg by hand. A hand crank eggbeater makes it much quicker and easier. How about a rolling pin? Have you ever tried to roll out dough by hand? Using a rolling pin helps flatten and even out the dough much more easily than doing so by hand. What other example can you think of?
Let’s try it out! The activity linked below provides a wonderful example of how wheels and axles work. In this activity, you will build your own car by following the instructions provided to you on the site and watching the tutorial video at the top of the screen. Everything you need for this experiment has been provided to you in your “Take Home Tool Kit” that you have at home.
Use this link to watch the tutorial video: (Directions for the activity also appear in Spanish on this site.)
Use the link/links below to obtain a copy of the “Rubber-Band Car” activity that will provide you with a list of instructions and information inside the engineering of your very own car! One link provides the activity in English, the other in Spanish. Be sure to test and redesign! If your car does not work as anticipated, you must make changes so that your car works as intended. (That means the wheels must stay in place and attached to the car, both the wheels and axle must spin appropriately, etc.)
Parents and other adults are permitted to assist you in this activity if you wish, but it is not required. You have all the knowledge and tools to complete this task independently.
Once you have completed this assignment, I would like you to answer the following questions in your science journal.
1. How was you experience building this car different from what you thought when you first read the directions? (i.e., was anything more or less difficult than you originally thought? Did everything turn out as you expected?) Explain using details from your procedure.
2. What, if anything, needed to be readjusted in order to make your car move as it should? Explain what you did to solve the problem.
3. Explain why your model car is a good demonstration of how a wheel and axle work together to make objects move.