Machines

 

The video above is all about how machines make our lives easier. This is true, not because machines allow us to do less work, but they allow us to do the same amount of work while exerting less force. Work = force x distance. When you increase the distance, as you do with inclined planes and pulleys, you do not need to exert as much force to do the same amount of work. All machines function this way for us. When finding out how much work you are doing on a machine, you must keep in mind that the work in = the work out. Therefore, the force in x the distance in = the force out x the distance out. This is an important equation. I liked the song in the video not only because it is really catchy but also because it provides a lot of real world examples such as a kitchen knife, a wedge, which increases the distance of the force. Although it covers a lot of machines we have not yet studied, it is a good resource.

I also included this Bill Nye the Science Guy video because he talks about simple machines, especially the lever, and shows a lot of cool examples. I also think the explanation and information in this video is a bit easier to follow than the information in the song. Hopefully these two videos combined give you some solid base knowledge of simple machines and how they make your job easier.