STATION 1
Use the spring balance to drag the trolley up the slope. Take the reading off the spring balance in Newtons. This reading is called the effort. Use the formula below to work out the mechanical advantage of this slope.
MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE = LOAD
EFFORT
STATION 2
The ratio of a gear system can be worked out using the following formula.
GEAR RATIO = NUMBER OF TEETH ON EFFORT GEAR
Work out the ratio of the gear system supplied.NUMBER OF TEETH ON FOLLOWING GEAR
STATION 3
A screw is a type of slope. The steeper the slope the less mechanical
advantage gained. Look at the 2 screws supplied. Which one has the biggest
mechanical advantage?
STATION 4
Look at the graph below which shows how the effort required to push 2 different loads up a slope varies with the angle of the slope. One of the loads weighs 5 Newtons and is labeled line 1 on your graph. The second load is unknown and is labeled line 2. Use the graph to answer the questions below.
a) For the 5 Newton load (line 1) what effort will be required if the angle of the slope is 60 degrees?
b) What is the weight of the second load (line 2)?
STATION 5
Look at the following orders of levers.
First Order Second Order Third Order
Effort
Load
Load Effort
Effort
Load
Using this information classify the supplied pair of tweezers, scissors
and stapler as either a first, second or third order lever.
Use the spring balance to lift the load at the point marked on the lever. Take the reading off the spring balance in Newtons. This reading is called the effort. Use the formula below to work out the mechanical advantage of this lever.
MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE = LOAD
EFFORT
STATION 7
There are three pulley systems set up. DO NOT TOUCH THE EXPERIMENTS.
Observe the reading on each spring balance. From these results what could
you conclude about the number of wheels in a pulley system?
STATION 8
Use the equipment supplied to make a 2 wheel speed multiplying gear
system. Draw your result on your answer sheet labeling which gear is the
following wheel and which is the effort wheel. Disassemble your gear system
and leave this experiment exactly as you found it.
STATION 9
Use the spring balance to lift the load off the ground. Take the reading off the spring balance in Newtons. This reading is called the effort. Use the formula below to work out the mechanical advantage of this pulley system.
MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE = LOAD
EFFORT
STATION 10
Look at the complex lego machine. Identify four simple machines used
to make the complex machine.
STATION 1
Spring Balance Reading = ________________________________
Mechanical Advantage =
STATION 2
Gear Ratio =
STATION 3
Answer _________________________________
STATION 4
a) Effort = _________________________________
b) Weight = _________________________________
STATION 5
Tweezers _________________________________
Scissors _________________________________
Stapler _________________________________
STATION 6
Spring Balance Reading = ________________________________
Mechanical Advantage =
STATION 7
Conclusion - __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STATION 8
STATION 9
Spring Balance Reading = ________________________________
Mechanical Advantage =
STATION 10
1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________
4. ___________________________________
STATION 1
Station 1 is an inclined plane experiment. The trolley contains a label
which states how much the trolley weighs in Newtons. (optional)
- 1 trolley, inclined plane, spring balance, Small sign attached to
the trolley.(optional)
