Offered with manually operable features, the proposed water-draining pump would be more or less a
compound machine, comprising a well-arranged system of pulleys attached to a garden hose.
Scooters are attached by a rope to the pulley wheel built into the gears, making a
compound machine. This permits the students to use the gears in several different ways.
The key: Connect simple machines, such as levers and screws, to build a
compound machine. Simple machines use physical laws to make work easier--for instance, allowing you to move a much heavier weight than you could alone.
3) or, alternatively, take apart a
compound machine and show how the simple machines inside make it work.
They combined simple machines to form
compound machines. For example, a hoe is a lever and a wedge combined into one tool.
Rube Goldberg machine makers link simple devices into elaborate
compound machines. "It's amazing what these kids come up with," says Kathleen Felix of Rube Goldberg Inc., which runs the contests.
Most machines are
compound machines. This means they are made of two or more simple machines working together.
Bicycles, explains Gold, are
compound machines, made up of many simple machines, such as levers and wheels and axles.