Inclined planes work by helping you move or carry an object over a longer distance. When you have to lift something heavy up the stairs it takes a lot of effort and a long distance. But when you use an inclined plane you are trading/exchanging force for distance. With a gentle slope you have more distance but it is easier to push, with a steeper slope it is a shorter distance but more effort to push up the slope.
An example: Carrying a desk up the stairs, although it is possible but it would take a lot of time and it may be dangerous. With an inclined plane you can just simply wheel or push the desk up the gentle sloped ramp. There are other machines that use the inclined plane, they are called the screw and the wedge. The screw may just look like a stick with threads on it, but it is actually an inclined plane that is spiraled around itself. If you separate the inclined plane form the center post you would get a spring, and if you unwind the spring you will have an inclined plane.
The Wedge is made up of two inclined planes facing each other. Levers are very helpful, they help us open cans, help us move things, we can even have fun on them and help us do the work we need to finish, such as raking the leaves or opening up a can of paint. How they work is by the input force and the output force. When you use a crowbar to ply open the lid of a paint can, you are applying force onto one end(the input force) of the crowbar and the force you put on one end is transferred to to the other end to open up the can of paint(the output force). So due to the amount of input force you have, the greater your output force will be.
Large input force=Large output force Small input force=Small output force
An example: You are playing baseball. You want the ball to go far to the back so you have enough time to run. The handle is your input force and the top of the bat is your output force. How hard you swing your bat is how far your ball will go. If you swing your bat hard, then the ball will go far.
<- This picture is an example of a class 2 lever
This wheelbarrow(above) picture is an example of a class 2 lever.
Another machines that use the lever are : the wheel and axle, and the pulley. An example of the wheel and axle is a wheel barrow. The fulcrum is in the middle of the wheel(the axle) and your input force is at the handle, the output force at the carriage. In a pulley the fulcrum is at the middle of the wheel and your input force is the string/rope you pull on, the output force is the object you are trying to pull up (ex. using a pulley to pull up a bucket from a well.)
How do inclined planes and levers work
Inclined planes work by helping you move or carry an object over a longer distance. When you have to lift something heavy up the stairs it takes a lot of effort and a long distance. But when you use an inclined plane you are trading/exchanging force for distance. With a gentle slope you have more distance but it is easier to push, with a steeper slope it is a shorter distance but more effort to push up the slope.
An example: Carrying a desk up the stairs, although it is possible but it would take a lot of time and it may be dangerous. With an inclined plane you can just simply wheel or push the desk up the gentle sloped ramp.
There are other machines that use the inclined plane, they are called the screw and the wedge. The screw may just look like a stick with threads on it, but it is actually an inclined plane that is spiraled around itself. If you separate the inclined plane form the center post you would get a spring, and if you unwind the spring you will have an inclined plane.
The Wedge is made up of two inclined planes facing each other.
Levers are very helpful, they help us open cans, help us move things, we can even have fun on them and help us do the work we need to finish, such as raking the leaves or opening up a can of paint. How they work is by the input force and the output force. When you use a crowbar to ply open the lid of a paint can, you are applying force onto one end(the input force) of the crowbar and the force you put on one end is transferred to to the other end to open up the can of paint(the output force). So due to the amount of input force you have, the greater your output force will be.
Large input force=Large output force
Small input force=Small output force
An example: You are playing baseball. You want the ball to go far to the back so you have enough time to run. The handle is your input force and the top of the bat is your output force. How hard you swing your bat is how far your ball will go. If you swing your bat hard, then the ball will go far.
<- This picture is an example of a class 2 lever
This wheelbarrow(above) picture is an example of a class 2 lever.
Another machines that use the lever are : the wheel and axle, and the pulley. An example of the wheel and axle is a wheel barrow. The fulcrum is in the middle of the wheel(the axle) and your input force is at the handle, the output force at the carriage. In a pulley the fulcrum is at the middle of the wheel and your input force is the string/rope you pull on, the output force is the object you are trying to pull up (ex. using a pulley to pull up a bucket from a well.)
See other websites for more information:(They will be opened in a new tab)
Inclined planes
http://www.ohio.edu/people/williar4/html/haped/nasa/simpmach/Inplane.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5122555_inclined-plane-work.html
Levers
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/physics/machines/Levers.shtml
http://www.ehow.com/info_8110058_three-parts-simple-lever-machine.html
Both
http://camillasenior.homestead.com/review_simple_machines.pdf
Click here to take a quiz on how Inclined planes work
Click here to take a quiz on how levers work
Click here to go to home page
Click here to go to "How are inclined planes and Levers parent machines"