Simple Machines

One of the earliest and simplest machines is the ‘inclined plane.’ If you had to lift a heavy box some stairs, would you rather carry it or push it up a ramp? The ramp would make pushing the box easier, and that’s what’s called an inclined plane! It’s a big triangle that makes it much easier to push things up a large building or a hill. It is believed that the Egyptians used inclined planes to move the heavy stones used in building the pyramids. Today, we still find inclined planes and ramps for various purposes, such as building structures, moving objects, or assisting individuals with wheelchairs or other disabilities in accessing places. The inclined plane is one of the simplest machines, as it doesn’t have any moving parts; it’s just a ramp.

Nobody knows exactly who invented the first wheel, but the first wheels were found in Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient China. Ancient Mesopotamians used the wheel to make pottery, such as bowls and pots, and people in ancient China also invented their own wheels. Think of all of the wheels that help you move around in your life! Tricycles, wagons, scooters, wheels of cars, trucks, and bikes! The bicycle wheel wasn’t invented until 1817. A man named Karl von Drais invented the wire bicycle wheel that we know today, but the bike itself wasn’t invented until much later! What are some ways of getting around without wheels? How do you think wheels changed people’s lives when they were invented?

The axle was also invented by the Mesopotamians. The axle is a stick, or rod, that is inserted into a hole in the middle of a wheel! The axle allows the wheel to move around. It is also how other inventions, such as flour mills and cars work. If the axle is in the middle of a wheel, it can move things it’s attached to without running away! Axles are essential due to their role in cars, bikes, trains, mills, wind turbines, and other rotating machines. If something has a rotating part, it probably has an axle. Can you list machines that have axles or need axles?

Archimedes also invented the pulley system. The pulley system combines ropes and wheels to pull down on one part of the rope, causing the other part to rise. Archimedes initially used the pulley system to lift boats, connecting a series of pulleys, driving the ship onto the system, and then having multiple people pull with great effort to lift the boats into the harbor. Archimedes wrote extensively about his belief that pulleys could be used to lift large objects and help build buildings, which is precisely what they are used for today. Have you ever seen a construction site? What kinds of inventions do you think have helped construction sites build buildings for us?

Archytas of Tarentum was another man from Greece who used what Archimedes discovered to make what we know today as the screw! He looked at what Archimedes made with his water ‘screw,’ and tried making a much smaller version to try and fasten different parts together. This is how he came up with the screw that we know today! The screw was primarily used to fasten wood and similar materials together back then, but it was much more challenging to manufacture than it is now, since we have machines that can produce screws for us. What are some other pieces of equipment that may have been difficult to make a long time ago, but are much easier to make today?

Leonardo Da Vinci was a renowned artist who lived in the Renaissance in the 1400s. He was also an inventor who contributed numerous vital inventions to the world. Leonardo Da Vinci took a variety of older machines and improved them, such as the lever and the pulley. He also invented the ‘wedge,’ a simple machine that worked very similarly to the screw. Leonardo Da Vinci would make two pieces of wood, one with a hole and one with a cutout, so that he could put them together and they couldn’t come undone. Try putting a puzzle together, and then attempt to pull it apart without lifting the pieces. The pieces don’t separate. That’s precisely how the wedge works!

Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, scientist, and inventor. The lever was an invention that he didn’t entirely invent, but he worked hard to try to understand why levers work. In fact, in ancient Egypt, people used large levers to move sandstone bricks around to build the pyramids. Archimedes made his own lever, though, which resembles a large wooden seesaw. The lever works by placing a large object on one side of the seesaw and then pressing down hard on the other side to make the object move. Archimedes would use this “lever” to start moving blocks and bricks to build buildings, which was really helpful when it came to carrying and moving big objects around. The lever is really helpful today because it led to the invention of things like cranes and other heavy-lifting machines. What are some inventions that you can imagine that would help out around your house?