Unit 5 Design and Mechanics
Gears, Speed, and Torque
Concepts taught:
Force
Power
Work
Torque
Speed
Gears
ratios
Mechanical
Advantage
Conversion
of Units
Measurement
Simple
Machines
Reading
diagrams and following directions
Resources:
Mobile
robots and strength worksheet
Applied
Physics Worksheet and Applied Physics
Worksheet Solutions
Applied
Physics PowerPoint Presentation
Compound Gear Ratio
PowerPoint
Teachers will:
Use Lego educational technology to develop a presentation
showing examples gears and mechanical advantage.
Contrast and compare the inversely proportional
relationship between speed and torque when using gears.
Demonstrate how to calculate
compound gear ratios.
Develop worksheets that
students can use to practice calculations.
Demonstrate the gearbox students will be building.
Students will:
Observe a teacher-developed demonstration of different
technologies that use gears.
Participate in teacher led discussion on the difference between
force and torque
Participate in teacher led discussions on the inversely
proportional relationship between torque and speed when designing gear trains.
Activities:
Build a compound gearbox and measure the speed of the
rotating axles.
Modify the gearbox to be used as a crane to lift various
sized weights
Complete worksheet on Mobile
Robots and Strength
Complete worksheet on Compound Gear Ratios
SumoBot Competition
Evaluation
In class participation
Teacher observation
Completion of gearbox and
laboratory investigation
Completion of worksheets
Open Ended Design Challenges: