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capri0mniThose of you of a certain age will probably remember the educational film strips in elementary science class. Well, now, they're updated into 14-minute and change television episodes. I know this because my local PBS station airs them in the wee hours of the morning so that teachers can video-record them, and bring them into class, and when I have insomnia, I sometimes catch them (and yes, I often get sucked in).
Anyway, the other night, when I was winding down from the tornado scare, I caught a pair of episodes about the six simple machines (Wheel and axle, lever, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw). In these episodes, they defined a Machine as something that must do at least one of the following three things:
The first thought that came to me was: Wheel and Axle + Inclined Plane = OTP!!!eleventy!!one!
The second thought came to me the next day, as I caught sight of an old bookbag hanging on a coat hook in the hall, and it was this: Hey, wait a minute! A bag makes it easier to to do the work of carrying thingss. Does that make a bag another simple machine? Then, I figured that it probably didn't as "make work easier" could be just another way to say "reduce the needed level of force," and while bags make things less awkward, they don't actually take up any of the weight you're carrying (the way a pulley or lever does).
Then, just now, another thought popped into my head (I guess my subconscious wasn't quite done with the question): snowshoes!
Snowshoes definitely make it easier to walk in snow. And they do it by changing the direction of the force from a person's weight (spreading it out at a 90 degree angle).
So if Archemedes had lived in a place with deep snow, that needed snowshoes and sleds, would that list of simplie machines have seven things, instead of six? Or are snowshoes simply another version of one of the machines listed above? And if it's the latter, which one?
Anyway, the other night, when I was winding down from the tornado scare, I caught a pair of episodes about the six simple machines (Wheel and axle, lever, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw). In these episodes, they defined a Machine as something that must do at least one of the following three things:
- Make work easier
- Make work faster
- Change the derection of work
The first thought that came to me was: Wheel and Axle + Inclined Plane = OTP!!!eleventy!!one!
The second thought came to me the next day, as I caught sight of an old bookbag hanging on a coat hook in the hall, and it was this: Hey, wait a minute! A bag makes it easier to to do the work of carrying thingss. Does that make a bag another simple machine? Then, I figured that it probably didn't as "make work easier" could be just another way to say "reduce the needed level of force," and while bags make things less awkward, they don't actually take up any of the weight you're carrying (the way a pulley or lever does).
Then, just now, another thought popped into my head (I guess my subconscious wasn't quite done with the question): snowshoes!
Snowshoes definitely make it easier to walk in snow. And they do it by changing the direction of the force from a person's weight (spreading it out at a 90 degree angle).
So if Archemedes had lived in a place with deep snow, that needed snowshoes and sleds, would that list of simplie machines have seven things, instead of six? Or are snowshoes simply another version of one of the machines listed above? And if it's the latter, which one?
