Simple Machines Vocabulary and Information
Simple machines make work easier. In this unit, students will conduct several hands-on experiements. They will create and use simple machines to gain an understanding of work, forces, motion, and friction. Students will create and/or use the six simple machines. The simple machines are the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw. Students will gain an understanding that simple machines make work easier by magnifying, modifying, transferring, or changing the direciton of the applied force. Students will also gain a basic understanding of gears and gear ratios. Students will gain an understanding of the effects of friction.
Families!! If you have any leftover wood from a home project we could use it in class. Pieces of wood either 2 x 4 or 2 x 2 would be great. Please drop off any wood in the room or leave on benches by the office. Thanks!!
Students will use the following vocabulary during this unit:
1. Simple machines are levers, wheel and axles, inclined planes, wedges, screws, and pulleys.
2. Compound machines are made of two or more simple machines (faucet in the kitchen is a compound machine).
3. Force is a push or a pull that causes an object to move, stop, or change direction.
4. Friction is a force that opposes, or acts against, motion when two surfaces rub against each other.
5. Gravitation is the force that pulls all objects in the universe toward each other.
6. Magnetism is the force of repulsion (pushing) or attraction (pulling) between poles of magnets.
7. Work is the use of force to move an object through a distance.
8. Newtons are the metric measurement of force, named after Sir Issac Newton an English scientist.
9. joules (JOOLs) is the metric unit of work.
10. watts are the metric unit of power.
11. Acceleration is a change in motion caused by unbalanced forces or a change in velocity.
12. Balanced forces are the forces acting on an object that are equal in size and opposite in direction, canceling each other out.
13. Unbalanced forces are forces that are not equal and do not cancel each other out, cause a change in motion or velocity.
14. Inertia is the property of matter that keeps the matter moving in a straight line or keeps the matter at rest.
15. Power is the amount of work done for each unit of time.
16. Speed is the measure of the distance an object moves in a given amount of time.
17. Velocity is an object's speed in a particular direction.
18. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion, or energy in use (bowling ball rolling down the lane has kinetic energy).
19. Potential energy is the energy an object has because of its position or its condition (bowling ball held up high has potential energy).
20. Machines are things that make work easier by changing the size or the direction of a force.
21. Momentum is a measure of how hard it is to stop or slow down an object in motion.
22. Everyday Household Machines may be either simple or complex. Some examples are scissors, knives, light switches, forks, blenders, and many others.
Simple Machines make work easier. Work = Force x Distance. A shovel appears simple but is a compound machine. The shovel has a wedge at the bottom and a lever as the handle.
What simple machines can you find around your house?