Article
Article
Wheel and axle
Article By:
Phelan, Richard M. Department of Mechanical Systems and Design, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Last reviewed:June 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.745100
A wheel and its axle or, more generally, two wheels with different diameters or a wheel and drum, as in a windlass, rigidly connected together so that they rotate as a unit on a common axis. The principle of operation is the same as that of the lever in that, for static equilibrium, the summation of torques about the axis of rotation equals zero. Where flexible members, such as ropes, have been firmly attached to a wheel and drum (see illustration) and the machine is mounted on frictionless bearings, Eq. (1)
(1)The content above is only an excerpt.
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