analyze gears

1. Analyze Gears
Supplies and Equipment for this How To Box are available from Flinn Scientific
Investigating
Gears Kit
AP6501
Simple Machines—
Student Laboratory
Kit
AP6931
Simple Machines
Poster
AP7397
Input
18 teeth
6 teeth 24 teeth
Idler
Output
The mechanical advantage (MA) of a gear system is
determined by the ratio between the number of teeth
(radius) on the output gear compared to the input
gear. For a gear system with more than two gears, the
mechanical advantage of the system is determined by
multiplying the mechanical advantage of each two-gear
combination. The center gear is known as the idler gear.
6 1
MA of input and idler = —– = —–
18 3
24 4
MA of idler and output = —– = —–
6 1
1 4 4
MA of combination = —– x —– = —–
3 1 3