Glossary

The force applied to a machine; measured in Newtons

Ancient Egypt built giant pyramids to house the bodies of their Pharaohs after death.  After millenia, they are still among the largest structures ever built by humans

The amount of work that can be done by a force.

A type of pulley where the pulley is attached to some other immovable object. This type of pulley has no mechanical advantage; changes the direction of effort

Force is the pressure exerted on things.  Force may be applied by pushing, lifting or pressing on things.  Everything in the universe has gravitational force applied to it.

Force is measured in Newtons (N).  One Newton is equal to the force necessary to lift one orange in your hand.

force that opposes motion

the point where a lever balances; where the effort force is transmuted into the resistance force  (Input force and output force)

Universal force that exerts pull on every object from every other object

A simple machine made up of a flat surface, such as a board, at an angle to another flat surface, such as the ground or a table top;

An example is a ramp

Measure of work.  Equal to 1 Newton/Meter

A lever is a simple machine made up of a rigid bar or plank that rotates on a fixed object called a pivot point or fulcrum.

Motion is the changing of position of an object in reference to a starting point.

pulley is not attached to fixed object; allows reduced effort in exchange for greater distance 

simple machine made up of a flat surface at an angle to another flat surface; ie a board with one end on the ground and the other end on a truck bed allowing items to be rolled up the slope

a measure of force; named after Isaac Newton; 1 Newton (N) is equivalent to the force needed to lift one apple

A simple machine made up of a wire, cable or rope moving on a grooved wheel;  may be made up of one or many wheels;  can be fixed in place or movable

an inclined plane with one end lower than the other to allow items to be moved up with less effort; trades less effort for longer distance; does not reduce work

an early version of the wheel and axle; allows loads to be moved with less friction and therefore less effort

A type of inclined plane that is wrapped around a central post.  Can be used for fastening (woodscrews) or closing items like lids on jars, etc.

The ancient world listed 7 items as wonders of the world.  The only remaining one today is the Great Pyramid at Ghiza

A tool or device made up of one basic machine.

pulley with only one wheel; changes the direction of effort; does not reduce the effort

circling a central post while traveling along it; threads moving along a screw

A simple machine that looks like an inclined plane but is forced into an object.

A simple machine made up of two wheels of different diameters that turn together; a longer motion on the wheel produces a shorter but more powerful motion on the axle

done when a force acts on an object to make the object move; calculated by multiplying force times distance

W = Fxd

the distance an object has moved multiplied by it's mass

Work = Force X distance

scientific definition is very different than that used every day