GEARS 1

INTRODUCTION

Gears are just wheels with teeth. You can use gears to slow things down or speed them up, to change direction or to control several things at once. First we'll look at gears of the same size.

MATERIALS

PROCEDURE

1. Put one axle in each of the four small gears.

2. Find or make a mark on one tooth on each gear.

3. Use the stickers to label one gear as the driver, "D", and one as the follower, "F". We will use the driver to move the follower.

4. Put these two gears on the base board with the marked teeth touching. See Figure 1.

5. Turn the driver one complete time around in a clockwise direction. Watch the follower as you do. Record how many times the follower turns and in what direction.

6. Now put another gear between the driver and the follower as in Figure 2. Turn the driver as in step 5 and record what happens to the follower.

7. Finally, repeat this procedure with two gears between the driver and follower. See Figure 3.

NUMBER OF GEARS
IN BETWEEN		TURNSDIRECTION
0
1
2

DEDUCTION

Look at your results. What pattern or rule can you deduce about how the follower gear will turn?

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PREDICTION

Let's say that both the driver and the follower were medium sized gears. What do you think would happen if we turned the driver one time around in the clockwise direction? How many times do you think the follower will turn and in what direction?

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