Simple machine

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the concept in physics. For independent record label, see Simple
Machines. For the Internet forum software, see Simple Machines Forum. For broader
coverage of this topic, see Mechanism (engineering).

The six classical simple machines

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][5]

 Lever
 Wheel and axle
 Pulley
 Inclined plane
 Wedge
 Screw
A simple machine uses a single applied force to do work against a single load force.
Ignoring friction losses, the work done on the load is equal to the work done by the
applied force. The machine can increase the amount of the output force, at the cost of a
proportional decrease in the distance moved by the load. The ratio of the output to the
applied force is called the mechanical advantage.
Simple machines can be regarded as the elementary "building blocks" of which all more
complicated machines (sometimes called "compound machines"[6][7]) are composed.[2]
[8]
For example, wheels, levers, and pulleys are all used in the mechanism of a bicycle.[9]
[10]
The mechanical advantage of a compound machine is just the product of the
mechanical advantages of the simple machines of which it is composed.
Although they continue to be of great importance in mechanics and applied science,
modern mechanics has moved beyond the view of the simple machines as the ultimate
building blocks of which all machines are composed, which arose in the Renaissance as
a neoclassical amplification of ancient Greek texts. The great variety and sophistication
of modern machine linkages, which arose during the Industrial Revolution, is
inadequately described by these six simple categories. Various post-Renaissance
authors have compiled expanded lists of "simple machines", often using terms like basic
machines,[9] compound machines,[6] or machine elements to distinguish them from the
classical simple machines above. By the late 1800s, Franz Reuleaux[11] had identified
hundreds of machine elements, calling them simple machines.[12] Modern machine
theory analyzes machines as kinematic chains composed of elementary linkages
called kinematic pairs.
History
The idea of a simple machine originated with the Greek philosopher Archimedes around
the 3rd century BC, who studied the Archimedean simple machines: lever, pulley,
and screw.[2][13] He discovered the principle of mechanical advantage in the lever.
[14]
Archimedes' famous remark with regard to the lever: "Give me a place to stand on,
and I will move the Earth," (Greek: δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω)[15] expresses his
realization that there was no limit to the amount of force amplification that could be
achieved by using mechanical advantage. Later Greek philosophers defined the classic
five simple machines (excluding the inclined plane) and were able to calculate their
(ideal) mechanical advantage.[7] For example, Heron of Alexandria (c. 10–75 AD) in his
work Mechanics lists five mechanisms that can "set a load in
motion": lever, windlass, pulley, wedge, and screw,[13] and describes their fabrication and
uses.[16] However the Greeks' understanding was limited to the statics of simple
machines (the balance of forces), and did not include dynamics, the tradeoff between
force and distance, or the concept of work.
During the Renaissance the dynamics of the mechanical powers, as the simple
machines were called, began to be studied from the standpoint of how far they could lift
a load, in addition to the force they could apply, leading eventually to the new concept of
mechanical work. In 1586 Flemish engineer Simon Stevin derived the mechanical
advantage of the inclined plane, and it was included with the other simple machines.
The complete dynamic theory of simple machines was worked out by Italian
scientist Galileo Galilei in 1600 in Le Meccaniche (On Mechanics), in which he showed
the underlying mathematical similarity of the machines as force amplifiers.[17][18] He was
the first to explain that simple machines do not create energy, only transform it.[17]
The classic rules of sliding friction in machines were discovered by Leonardo da
Vinci (1452–1519), but were unpublished and merely documented in his notebooks, and
were based on pre-Newtonian science such as believing friction was an ethereal fluid.
They were rediscovered by Guillaume Amontons (1699) and were further developed
by Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1785).[19]
Ideal simple machine
If a simple machine does not dissipate energy through friction, wear or deformation,
then energy is conserved and it is called an ideal simple machine. In this case, the
power into the machine equals the power out, and the mechanical advantage can be
calculated from its geometric dimensions.
Although each machine works differently mechanically, the way they function is similar
mathematically.[20] In each machine, a force is applied to the device at one point, and it
does work moving a load at another point.[21] Although some machines only change the
direction of the force, such as a stationary pulley, most machines multiply the magnitude
of the force by a factor, the mechanical advantage

that can be calculated from the machine's geometry and friction.

Simple machines do not contain a source of energy,[22] so they cannot do
more work than they receive from the input force.[21] A simple machine with
no friction or elasticity is called an ideal machine.[23][24][25] Due to conservation of energy, in
an ideal simple machine, the power output (rate of energy output) at any time is equal
to the power input

The power output equals the velocity of the load multiplied by the load force . Similarly
the power input from the applied force is equal to the velocity of the input
point multiplied by the applied force . Therefore,
So the mechanical advantage of an ideal machine is equal to the velocity ratio, the ratio
of input velocity to output velocity

The velocity ratio is also equal to the ratio of the distances covered in any given period
of time[26][27][28]

Therefore, the mechanical advantage of an ideal machine is also equal to the distance
ratio, the ratio of input distance moved to output distance moved
This can be calculated from the geometry of the machine. For example, the mechanical
advantage and distance ratio of the lever is equal to the ratio of its lever arms.
The mechanical advantage can be greater or less than one:
 If , the output force is greater than the input, the machine acts as a force
amplifier, but the distance moved by the load is less than the distance moved
by the input force .
 If , the output force is less than the input, but the distance moved by the load
is greater than the distance moved by the input force.
In the screw, which uses rotational motion, the input force should be replaced by
the torque, and the velocity by the angular velocity the shaft is turned.
Friction and efficiency
All real machines have friction, which causes some of the input power to be dissipated
as heat. If is the power lost to friction, from conservation of energy

The mechanical efficiency of a machine (where ) is defined as the ratio of power out to
the power in, and is a measure of the frictional energy losses

As above, the power is equal to the product of force and velocity, so

Therefore,
So in non-ideal machines, the mechanical advantage is always less than the velocity
ratio by the product with the efficiency . So a machine that includes friction will not be
able to move as large a load as a corresponding ideal machine using the same input
force.