1. By Edward Goldhill, James Thomas, and Dalia Lorenz
Simple machines
By Edward Goldhill, James Thomas, and Dalia Lorenz

2. The simple machines Incline planes Pulleys Levers Screws Wedges
Wheel and Axle

3. Incline planes
The inclined plane is one of the classical simple machines, it is a flat surface whose endpoints are at different heights. By moving an object up an inclined plane rather than directly from one height to another, the amount of force required is reduced, at the expense of increasing the distance the object must travel.
The mechanical advantage of an inclined plane is the ratio of the length of the sloped surface to the height it spans

4. Wheel and Axle
A simple machine made up of two circular objects of different sizes.
The wheel is the larger object.
It turns about a smaller object called an axle.
A force applied to the wheel is multiplied when it is transferred to the axle, which travels a shorter distance than the wheel.
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5. Pulleys
All Simple machines are incredibly useful. One especial useful simple machine is the pulley.
A pulley is made by having a wheel that has a rope going around it.
Pulleys allow a force to change direction or act as a machine that makes it easier to lift heavy weights.

6. Wedges
Wedges are used for cutting, splitting, or piercing things. A wedge is wide at the top, and smaller at the bottom. Some examples of a wedge would be an axe (for splitting things) and also a shovel (it pierces the ground).

7. levers
Lever facts, next

8. Lever facts Levers are probably the most common simple machine
A lever bar exerts a force to move a load by turning on a pivot or fulcrum.
When the fulcrum is located close to the load, a small force applied to the end of the lever bar farthest away from the fulcrum is magnified so that the lever bar easily moves the heavy load. The force is magnified when the long part of the lever bar moves through a great distance. The short part of the lever bar, located between the fulcrum and the load, moves through a much smaller distance.
There are three types of levers: 1st Class, 2nd Class, and 3rd Class. The relative position of the load, fulcrum and force determine the class of lever.

9. screws
Screws are helpful to gold miners because they held things like rocker boxes, sluice boxes, and wagons together. Sometimes machines with screw shaped diggers, called augers, are used to break up the ground.
Photographs
simple machine consisting essentially of a solid cylinder, usually of metal, around which an inclined plane winds spirally, either clockwise or counterclockwise. It is used to fasten one object to another, to lift a heavy object, or to move an object by a precise amount. The ridge forming the inclined plane is called the thread; in cross section the ridge may be approximately triangular, square, or rounded. Levers