How do wheels move

Wheel and axle uses include lifting heavy objects, moving people quickly, and moving parts of a complex machine. There are two basic types of wheel and axle simple machines. Applying a large force to the axle makes the wheel go faster.

Everyday examples of this type of wheel and axle include:. In all these examples, you can see how the motion is initiated from the axle, resulting in a larger motion by the wheel. When you apply a small force to the wheel, it travels a longer distance and creates a stronger force on the axle.

In contrast to the examples where the force is applied to the axle, these examples illustrate when the motion is initiated from the wheel. Some type of force makes either the wheel or the axle move. That motion causes the other part of the machine to move. The wheel rotates around an axle, or fulcrum , so it can keep moving. You can add grease to an axle to decrease the friction between the axle and wheel.

When two objects rub together, like sliding a heavy log across the ground, it causes friction and makes it difficult to move the log. Wheels reduce or eliminate that friction, like when you place heavy log in a wheelbarrow. An axle is a rod that passes through the centre of a wheel.

In a road vehicle such as a car, the engine turns the axle to make the wheels go round. The edge of the wheel moves around more quickly, but with less force than the centre of the wheel.

The middle of the wheel moves around more slowly but with more turning force than the outside of the wheel. After further treatment, the gasoline is ready for use as fuel for cars. The car's engine burns gasoline to produce energy. It works by drawing gasoline from the tank along a fuel line and into one of its cylinders. Engines differ, but a typical one has four or six cylinders.

Each one, in sequence, draws in a small amount of gasoline along with a small amount of air before igniting it with a spark from the spark plugs. The small explosion resulting from the burning fuel forces a piston at the bottom of the cylinder downward.

This downward motion from each of the cylinders turns the engine's drive shaft. The gases produced from the combustion, including carbon dioxide and water vapor, are drawn out of the cylinder and leave the car's tailpipe as exhaust. A car's drive shaft is a mechanical part that connects the engine to the wheels. The drive shaft, which on most cars runs the length of the vehicle to the rear wheels, turns as the combustion engine burns gasoline.

The turning drive shaft sends power to the rear axle and wheels, which cause them to turn as well, moving the car forward.