Spinning Their Wheels
By Rod Monroe
January 25, 2010
The eighth grade science class at Service Valley Charter Academy has been studying work and the six simple machines. As a project they set up several different types of pulley systems testing the mechanical advantage of each system and the difference in the distances and direction the effort force must be applied. Students tested a fixed pulley system compared to a moveable pulley system lifting a 150 gram load.
Next they set up a couple of combination pulley systems (block and tackle) with the anchor rope tied to the fixed pulley compared to being tied to the moveable pulley. Before each test the students predicted the results and then after the test discussed why their results were accurate or not accurate. The picture shows the class with their two combination pulley systems used in the project.
