Simple machines

From pre-historic times, man keeps finding ways that will help him simplify his life. As a cave man and a hunter, humans discovered fire and ways to ‘create’ fire. Fire helped him be safe from predators and improved the taste of food that he could now cook. As a nomad, man realized that rotating friction is less compared to sliding friction. A wheel was invented. 

Simple Machines are various tools and techniques that make human life easy. Pulleys, levers and hammer are examples of some simple machines. Most of the complex machines are composed of many simple machines put together. Can you think of how many simple machines are used in making a car or an airplane? 

Just to illustrate, if we look under the hood of a car, we will see – 

– fuel carburetor based on Bernoulli’s theorem

– steering wheel that helps rotate the steering rod

– gears to switch the available power between thrust and speed

– clutch plates using friction to transmit power

– brake shoes using friction to control the vehicle

– transmission mechanism using bevel gears to change the direction of rotation from that of the transmission rod to that of the wheels

– spark plugs (petrol engines) to convert heat to mechanical energy

& the list goes on and on!

Go to a manufacturing plant, research lab or an amusement park – we are always surrounded by a lot of equipment that are all made up of a large number of simple machines. 

Hollywood movies project that machines might overtake humans one day. With the advent of “intelligent machines” this might no more be just fiction. 

However, whatever the future may hold, it is fascinating to see how simple concepts that we study in our middle school shape up to make such complex systems.