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    Paul Ghizlane - WheelAxleSE

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    Paul Ghizlane
    A wheel and axle multiplies force by reducing the effort needed to move a load. The document explores how changing the wheel radius and axle radius affects the mechanical advantage and effort. It finds that increasing the wheel radius or decreasing the axle radius reduces the number of athletes needed to turn the wheel, but increases the distance each athlete must walk. The mechanical advantage of a wheel and axle is the wheel radius divided by the axle radius. In examples, multiplying the mechanical advantage by the number of athletes always equals 12, showing how effort is reduced.

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    Paul Ghizlane - WheelAxleSE

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    Paul Ghizlane
    1K views4 pages
    A wheel and axle multiplies force by reducing the effort needed to move a load. The document explores how changing the wheel radius and axle radius affects the mechanical advantage and effort. It finds that increasing the wheel radius or decreasing the axle radius reduces the number of athletes needed to turn the wheel, but increases the distance each athlete must walk. The mechanical advantage of a wheel and axle is the wheel radius divided by the axle radius. In examples, multiplying the mechanical advantage by the number of athletes always equals 12, showing how effort is reduced.

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    A wheel and axle multiplies force by reducing the effort needed to move a load. The document explores how changing the wheel radius and axle radius affects the mechanical advantage and effort. It finds that increasing the wheel radius or decreasing the axle radius reduces the number of athletes needed to turn the wheel, but increases the distance each athlete must walk. The mechanical advantage of a wheel and axle is the wheel radius divided by the axle radius. In examples, multiplying the mechanical advantage by the number of athletes always equals 12, showing how effort is reduced.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    1K views4 pages

    Paul Ghizlane - WheelAxleSE

    Uploaded by

    Paul Ghizlane
    A wheel and axle multiplies force by reducing the effort needed to move a load. The document explores how changing the wheel radius and axle radius affects the mechanical advantage and effort. It finds that increasing the wheel radius or decreasing the axle radius reduces the number of athletes needed to turn the wheel, but increases the distance each athlete must walk. The mechanical advantage of a wheel and axle is the wheel radius divided by the axle radius. In examples, multiplying the mechanical advantage by the number of athletes always equals 12, showing how effort is reduced.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    Paul Ghizlane

    Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________

    Student Exploration: Wheel and Axle

    Vocabulary: effort, force, load, mechanical advantage, radius, wheel and axle

    Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

    1. A ship captain uses a steering wheel (called a “helm”) to turn the


    rudder of a sailing ship. Do you think it would be easier for him
    to turn a large wheel or a small wheel? Explain why you think so.
    I think a large wheel because it is bigger so you have
    ___________________________________________________
    more room to push.
    ___________________________________________________

    2. Which screwdriver do you think would turn a screw most easily? Circle your choice and
    explain why you picked the one you did.

    I think it is that screwdriver because it is bigger and has more hand room to grip
    _________________________________________________________________________
    and twist the screw.
    _________________________________________________________________________

    Gizmo Warm-up
    The Wheel and Axle Gizmo shows a simple machine called a
    wheel and axle. In this machine, turning the outer wheel will
    also turn the inner axle. The axle is connected to a rope that
    pulls a load, or weight.

    1. Drag an athlete to the wheel and press Play ( ). The


    athlete pushes on the wheel with a certain force. Is the
    athlete strong enough to move the wheel?
    no. they need more than one
    _____________________________________________

    2. Click Reset ( ). Drag more athletes to the wheel. The total force that the athletes exert
    on the wheel is called the effort.

    It takes 3 athletes
    How many athletes does it take to move the load? ________________________

    2019
    Get the Gizmo ready:
    Activity A:
     Click Reset.
    Wheel radius
     Remove all athletes from the wheel.

    Question: How does the Wheel radius affect the force needed to turn the wheel?

    1. Observe: The radius of the wheel is the distance from the center of the wheel to the edge.
    Use the Gizmo to explore the question given above. (You can tell how much force is needed
    to turn the wheel by checking the smallest number of athletes it takes to move it. Note – all
    athletes exert the same amount of force.)

    2. Hypothesis: How does the wheel radius affect the effort needed to turn the wheel?
    It affects the effort because you need to know the radius in order to see how much
    _________________________________________________________________________
    effort you need.
    _________________________________________________________________________

    3. Collect data: Find the smallest number of athletes needed to turn the wheel for each
    combination listed below. Click Reset between each trial.

    Wheel radius Axle radius Smallest number of athletes needed


    6m 4m 8
    8m 4m 6
    10 m 4m 5
    12 m 4m 4

    4. Analyze: How did the effort needed to turn the wheel change as the wheel radius increased?
    It changed because evreytime the wheel radius went up the less athletes i had to put
    _________________________________________________________________________
    on the wheel.
    _________________________________________________________________________

    A wheel and axle is useful because


    5. Draw conclusions: How is a wheel and axle useful? ________________________________
    without it we wouldnt be able to turn wheels.
    _________________________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    2019
    Get the Gizmo ready:
    Activity B:
     Click Reset.
    Axle radius  Remove all athletes from the wheel.
     Set the Wheel radius to 12 meters.

    Question: How does the Axle radius affect the force needed to turn the wheel?

    1. Observe: Use the Gizmo to explore the question given above.

    2. Hypothesis: How do you think the axle radius will affect the effort needed to turn the wheel?
    The axle radius will affect the effort because the higher the axle radius is the more
    _________________________________________________________________________
    effort will be needed.
    _________________________________________________________________________

    3. Collect data: First predict the smallest number of athletes that will be needed to turn the
    wheel for each case listed below. Then use the Gizmo to test your predictions. Also fill in
    how far the athlete had to walk to pull the load from point A to point B.

    Wheel Axle Predicted number Actual number of Distance athlete


    radius radius of athletes needed athletes needed walked
    12 m 8m 7 8 37.5 m
    12 m 6m 6 6 50.0 m
    12 m 4m 5 4 75.0
    12 m 2m 2 2 150.0 m

    4. Analyze: Look at your data table to answer these questions.

    A. How did the effort needed to turn the wheel change as the axle radius decreased?
    The effort changed by making it easier to push.
    __________________________________________________________________

    B. How did the distance the athletes walked change as the axle radius decreased?
    The distance changed by getting larger and larger when the axel radius decreased.
    ___________________________________________________________________

    5. Extend your thinking: The wheel and axle is helpful because it reduces the effort needed to
    move a load. What is the “price” you have to pay for this help?
    The price you have to pay is it taking more time to push.
    _________________________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    2019
    Get the Gizmo ready:
    Activity C:
     Click Reset.
    Mechanical
     Set the Wheel radius to 10 meters.
    advantage
     Set the Axle radius to 5 meters.

    Question: How does a wheel and axle multiply force?

    1. Collect data: For each case, use the Gizmo to determine the smallest number of athletes
    needed to turn the wheel and the distance they walked. Click Reset between each trial.

    Wheel Axle Smallest number of


    Distance athletes walked
    radius radius athletes needed
    10 m 5m 6 50.0 m
    14 m 7m 6 50.0 m
    6m 3m 6 50.0m

    I notice that the wheel and axle radius are diffrent


    2. Analyze: What do you notice? _________________________________________________

    each graph but still have the same distance


    _________________________________________________________________________

    3. Calculate: The mechanical advantage (MA) is a number indicating how much a simple
    machine reduces the effort needed to move a load. The mechanical advantage of a wheel
    and axle is roughly equal to the Wheel radius divided by the Axle radius.

    4
    What is the MA when the wheel radius is 8 m and the axle radius is 2 m? _______________

    4. Collect data: For each setup below, calculate the mechanical advantage and record the
    smallest number of athletes it takes to move the wheel.

    Wheel radius Axle radius Mech. advantage Smallest # of athletes needed


    12 m 3m 4 3
    6m 1m 6 2
    15 m 5m
    3 4

    5. Analyze: In each example, multiply the mechanical advantage by the number of athletes.
    The pattern i notice is that when multiplied their all 12
    A. What pattern do you notice? _______________________________________________

    B. Challenge: How many athletes would it take to move the load if there were no wheel and
    12 athletes
    axle? (Hint: MA = 1.) __________________________________________________

    2019

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