ApEngine_NathanO: Simple Machines Blog

For this simple machine project we built 4 of the simple machines; the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, and inclined plane. For the pulley, the IMA that we were supposed to get was 2, and for the other 3 machines we were supposed to get an IMA of 6. We calculated the efficiency of each machine by dividing the AMA by the IMA and multiplying that by 100. After all the machines were tested and we had all of the percent's, we found the average percent for each group to see who did the best overall job.

For the wheel and axle we got 1st place with a 90% efficiency, for the inclined plane we got 2nd place with a 37% efficiency, for the lever we got 1st place with a 73% efficiency, and for the pulley we got 1st place with a 75% efficiency. Our average percent was 69% and the second place group only was 41% efficient. Some people would say that we were the obvious winner, but there are so many different things that can go wrong with testing the machines so its hard to actually pick a winner.

We didn't get 100% efficiency because its very difficult to measure perfectly and test it perfectly. For the pulley, there needed to be a horizontal line that could go through 2 of the pieces of string, which doesn't include the force arm. For all of the other machines we needed to measure a 6 to 1 ratio in order to achieve an IMA of 6. We could've payed more attention to the IMA before we started building so we could build the machine to specifically fit the IMA, instead of building the machines and then worrying about the IMA. That wouldve made it easier to change the IMA if it didnt come out with the results that we wanted when we tested. We also couldve tested earlier so we knew ahead of time what the IMA was, and if we needed to redo what we previously did.