Wheel and Axle Winder

Wind a load with a wheel and axle to compare effort, hand travel and lift.

Grades 3–5 · Physics

Explore one idea

Wheel and Axle Winder

Your goal

Lift a 20 N load by 6.28 cm using 5.00 N of effort. Use 1 wheel turns and compare the hand travel with the lift.

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A 2 cm radius wheel winds a 1 cm radius axle lifting a 20 newton load by 0.00 centimeters.Turn a big wheel to wind a small axle2 cm20 N0 wheel turnsHand 0.0 cmLift 0.0 cmEffort 10.00 NBoth bars use one scaleWheel and axle rotate together · load position is schematic

Reduced motion is on. The controls still update the scene.

Effort is 10.00 N. Your hand travels 0.00 cm while the load rises 0.00 cm. Ideal input and output work both equal 0.00 J.

cm
cm
Load weight

The hand applies tangential effort to the outer wheel while the rope winds around the axle. This ideal machine lifts slowly with no friction or rope thickness. Radius and travel are in centimeters. Divide N cm by 100 to get joules.

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Learn with Wheel and Axle Winder

Wheel and Axle Winder helps elementary students investigate why a large handle can make lifting easier. Adjust the wheel radius, axle radius and load weight, then wind one complete turn at a time. A rope and load scene shows the lift while paired bars compare hand travel with load travel on the same scale. Children discover that reduced effort requires more hand movement. The displayed forces and distances also show that an ideal machine transfers work rather than creating energy, connecting a familiar winder with the physics of simple machines.

What to look for

Widen the wheel

A larger wheel needs less tangential effort for the same load and axle.

Compare distances

Your hand travels around the wheel while the load rises by the axle circumference.

Check the work

Multiply force by distance on each side and compare equal ideal work.

For teachers and curious learners

Explain how a wheel and axle trades force for travel without creating work. Ask students to predict what will happen, change one setting, and explain what they observe. Learn gives a starting point. Practice and Challenge offer new goals with the same scene.

The wheel and axle turn together in an ideal frictionless machine lifting slowly. Travel and radii are measured in centimeters. Rope thickness and deformation are ignored.

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