Grade 8 Technology Notes: Mechanical Systems and Control

1. Mechanical Advantage

* Well-designed machines can give you a mechanical advantage. This means they can help
you do a task with less effort.

* Complex machines are made up of combinations of simple mechanisms.

2. Simple Mechanisms

- The Wedge:

* Examples: Inclined plane (ramp), door wedge, knife blade

* Used to split things apart or create a tight fit.

-The Wheel and Axle:

* Examples: Bicycle wheels, shopping trolley wheels

* Makes it easier to move things by reducing friction.

- Gears:

* Gears are wheels with teeth.

* When two gears mesh, they rotate in opposite directions.

* An idler gear can be used to make two gears rotate in the same direction.

- Gear Ratios:

* The size of the gears affects the speed and force they can produce.

* A larger gear will turn slower but with more force.

* A smaller gear will turn faster but with less force.

Types and Functions of Mechanisms

Different mechanisms have different functions. Some common functions include:

* Increasing force

* Changing the direction of motion

* Increasing speed

* Reducing friction

COMPLEX MACHINES & MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE

* We use machines to make work easier and to do it faster. For example, we can use a tractor
to plough the land instead of digging it over by hand.

* A machine is a mechanism or group of mechanisms that can do useful work.

Machines help us to do work by:

* Changing the effort required to move a load, e.g. a wheelbarrow

* Changing the speed of output, e.g. the gears on a bicycle

* Changing the direction of output, e.g. an egg-beater.

Mechanisms are the working parts of machines. A mechanism can change an input force (or
motion) into a different output force (or motion).

* By changing one kind of force (or motion) into another kind of force (or motion), the
mechanism creates mechanical advantage that makes our work easier.

* Mechanical advantage is the ability of a machine to multiply effort. A well-designed machine

* Machines and mechanisms can be complex, but they are actually made up of combinations of
simple mechanisms such as the inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, wheel and axle, and pulley.

THE WEDGE, THE WHEEL AND AXLE

A. INCLINED PLANE

* An inclined plane is the simplest machine, because it needs no moving parts to make it work.
You can use an inclined plane to lift a load from one level to the next level. Instead of using a
large force to lift it straight up, the inclined plane (or ramp) allows us to use a smaller effort over
a longer distance to lift/move the load. The longer the ramp, the less effort is needed, therefore
the greater the mechanical advantage.

B. THE WEDGE

* A wedge is like a double-inclined plane with the two inclined planes facing each other.
* When the wedge moves forward or downwards, force is exerted along the length of the sides,
perpendicular to the inclined surface, so the wedge is able to push things apart. This action
occurs when an axe is used to split logs.

C. THE WHEEL AND AXLE

* The wheel and axle always work together.

* The advantage that the wheel gives the user is the ability to move a load easily over a
surface. Each wheel is designed to move a certain load over a certain surface as easily as
possible.

* There are TWO applications for the wheel and axle:

* A force multiplier – can be used to multiply force, such as turning the steering wheel of a car.

* A distance multiplier – can be used to cover distance such as the wheels of a car or bicycle.

* There are many different types of wheels

* Some wheels are attached by the axle to a motor. They are called ‘driver’ wheels because
they are used to drive the vehicle forward. Other wheels move because the vehicle moves.
They are called ‘driven’ wheels.

* Some wheels can be steered (a bicycle); some can move in any direction (front wheels of a
supermarket trolley); some are fixed to the body and can only go forwards and backwards (back
wheels of a supermarket trolley).

* Some wheels are built to travel over soft or rough surfaces (mountain-bike wheels) and others
are better on hard, smooth surfaces (road-bike wheels).

* Some wheels are designed for high speed and light loads (motor-bike wheels) whereas others
are designed for low speed and heavy loads (tipper trucks)

D. GEARS – WHEELS WITH TEETH

DEFINITION

* Gears are wheels with evenly spaced teeth around their outer rim. They are attached to an
axle.

FUNCTIONS OF GEARS

* Increase or decrease speed

* Change the direction of motion

* Multiply or increase turning forces.

* When teeth from two different gears are interlocked, we say that they are meshed.

* To mesh means to link together. The gear being turned is called the driven gear. The driven
gear is attached to the output axle.

* The INPUT gear is called the driver gear.

* The OUTPUT gear that meshes with the driver is called the driven gear as it turns into the
opposite direction.
* A gear attached to an input axle of a machine is called a driver gear. As the axle turns, the
driver gear turns with it.

* When two or more gears are meshed, they form a gear train.

E. SPUR GEARS AND COUNTER-ROTATION

* A spur gear is a gear with teeth like spurs on its edge. This is the most common type of gear.
When two gears mesh, they rotate in opposite directions. This is called counter-rotation.

* The cause transfer of movement, force, and speed.

* When two spur gears of different sizes mesh, they counter-rotate at different speeds.

* The smaller gear turns faster than the bigger gear.

* The difference in the speed of the two gears depends on the number of teeth on each gear
wheel.

F. IDLER GEARS SYNCHRONISE ROTATION

* An idler gear is a gear wheel that is placed between two larger gears and meshes with both of
them.

* The idler gear makes the two larger gears rotate in the same direction. We say that it
synchronises the direction of rotation of the other two gears.

* An idler gear is usually small, so it rotates more times than the larger gears it meshes with.

* If it is not lubricated, it might wear out faster than the main gears. Is a possible solution to this
problem to use a harder material for the idler gear?

2.4 MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE AND FORCE RATIO

* Mechanical advantage is a concept that is widely used regarding mechanisms and machines.

MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE (MA) = number of teeth on DRIVEN gear / number of teeth on

* WHAT IS A FORCE RATIO/ MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE? A FORCE ratio is the relationship

VELOCITY RATIOS

* WHAT IS A VELOCITY RATIO? It is the relationship between the SPEED of the driver gear
and the speed of the driven gear.

* One full circular movement of the gear wheel is called a rotation. We measure the speed at
which an axle/gear turns in rotations (revolutions) per minute (rpm).

* If gears of different sizes are meshed together, they turn at different speeds. In machines, we
use this principle to change the speed of rotation of the input axle to a different speed of rotation
of the output axle.

FORMULA FOR VELOCITY RATIO:

* The abbreviation rpm is often used for “revolutions per minute”.

If a driver gear has 20 teeth and the driven gear has 10 teeth, what will the velocity ratio be?

Example

Answer

velocity ratio = number of teeth on driven gear / number of teeth on driver gear = 10 / 20 = 2

So for every one rotation of the driver gear, the driven gear will turn twice. In other words, the
speed advantage is 2.

VELOCITY RATIO vs FORCE RATIO

If the speed/velocity ratio decreases the force ratio will increase, and vice versa.

When we work with gears this relationship is as follows:

* If a small driver gear drives a larger driven gear, the driven gear turns slower, but with greater
force.

* If a large driver gear drives a smaller driven gear, the driven gear turns with less force, but
faster.