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A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. [1] In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. [2] Usually the term refers to the six classical simple machines that were defined by Renaissance scientists: [3] [4 ...
Examples of rope and pulley systems illustrating mechanical advantage. Consider lifting a weight with rope and pulleys. A rope looped through a pulley attached to a fixed spot, e.g. a barn roof rafter, and attached to the weight is called a single pulley. It has a mechanical advantage (MA) = 1 (assuming frictionless bearings in the pulley ...
A sheave or pulley wheel is a pulley using an axle supported by a frame or shell (block) to guide a cable or exert force. A pulley may have a groove or grooves between flanges around its circumference to locate the cable or belt. The drive element of a pulley system can be a rope, cable, belt, or chain.
The hand axe is the first example of a wedge, the oldest of the six classic simple machines, from which most machines are based. The second oldest simple machine was the inclined plane (ramp), [6] which has been used since prehistoric times to move heavy objects. [7] [8] The other four simple machines were invented in the ancient Near East. [9]
A conveyor pulley is a mechanical device used to change the direction of the belt in a conveyor system, to drive the belt, and to tension the belt. Modern pulleys are ...
A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or fulcrum. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, load, and effort, the lever is divided into three types. It is one of the six simple machines identified by
A simple machine, such as a lever, pulley, or gear train, is "ideal" if the power input is equal to the power output of the device, which means there are no losses. In this case, the mechanical efficiency is 100%. Mechanical efficiency is the performance of the machine compared to its theoretical maximum as performed by an ideal machine.
The earliest evidence of pulleys date back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC, [9] and ancient Egypt during the Twelfth Dynasty (1991-1802 BC). [10] The screw, the last of the simple machines to be invented, [11] first appeared in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian period (911-609) BC. [9]