During this Unit, students will perform several investigations. Through investigations and models created with pulleys and levers, students will find that work in physical terms is a force applied over a distance. Students will also discover that while a simple machine may make work seem easier, in reality the amount of work does not decrease. Instead, machines make work seem easier by changing the direction of a force or by providing mechanical advantage as a ratio of load force to effort force.
Through a series of experiments students will come to understand that simple machines make work seem easier by changing the direction of an applied force as well as altering the mechanical advantage afforded by using the machine.
Conceptual Themes addressed in this Unit:
- Force and Motion
- Structure and Function