EngQuest 2010

Home > Primary School Education Resources > Engineers Australia > EngQuest 2010 > Student Content - Wheels and Axles

Wheels and Axles

A wheel and axle is a simple machine that is made up of a smaller cylinder (the axle) joined to a larger cylinder (the wheel). To work efficiently together, the axle must be connected to the wheel in such a way that it allows the wheel to rotate evenly about its centre.

Often a wheel and axle is used to reduce friction and to make it much easier to move a load. An example of this is a trolley, or any other wheeled vehicle (see Diagram 8). You will agree that it would be much easier to move a heavy load with a trolley that has wheels than to push the same trolley across the ground with no wheels.

Diagram 8 - an example of wheels and axles

There are two examples of wheels and axles in the Simple Machines Animation. Did you notice how they are both used with inclined planes to create motion?