GL-A4 Students deduce a rule for balancing a simple Lever that takes into account the weight and distance for suspended weights. They learn the basic concepts of balance of forces and mechanical advantage. GL-A5 Students combine the rules for gears and levers together to solve a simple machines puzzle where some of the combinations can be built and some must be solved mathematically. GL-B1 Students construct first class, second class, and third class levers and devise models using simple algebra to predict the mechanical advantage of a Lever from data on force and distance. GL-B2 Students build simple and compound gear machines which illustrate the concept of gear ratios and rotational speed.
Students construct a simple transmission and investigate how the torque changes with the gear ratio.