Gear Ideas for High School Lessons on Mechanical Advantage

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SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on developing high school lessons centered around the mechanical advantage of gears, specifically addressing rpm calculations and gear ratios. Participants seek effective gear models and demonstrations for students to construct and experiment with, highlighting the availability of plastic gear kits. Suggestions include creating a self-built board with dowel holes for easy assembly of gear trains. The discussion also references the ancient Greek Antikythera device as an exemplary model for teaching purposes.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of mechanical advantage principles
  • Familiarity with rpm calculations
  • Knowledge of gear ratios
  • Basic skills in constructing physical models
NEXT STEPS
  • Research plastic gear kits suitable for educational purposes
  • Explore methods for building gear trains using dowels
  • Investigate the Antikythera device and its educational applications
  • Watch YouTube tutorials on gearmotor demonstrations
USEFUL FOR

High school educators, physics teachers, and anyone interested in teaching mechanical advantage concepts through hands-on experiments with gears.

JFS321
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Hey guys, I'm looking to do several high school lessons on the mechanical advantage of gears...including rpm calculations and gear ratios. I've searched and searched, but can't seem to find any good gear models/demos for students to use to build and experiment on their own. It seems like plastic gear kits are easy to come by...but I'm wondering, how would we be able to build gear trains from them easily? All I can think of is a self-built board with holes for dowel insertion. Any other ideas on what I may have missed would be extremely appreciated!
 
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The most awesome one would have to be the antekythera device from ancient Greece. There are several documentaries that talk about its operation and history.

Here's one such reconstruction:

 
Search for "gearmotor" and you should easily find all kinds of useful examples & resources. Here is the first YouTube link I found, many others are out there.
 

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