EngQuest

Home > Middle Years Facts & Articles for Students > EngQuest > 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).

Often a wheel and axle is used 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 across the ground with a trolley that does have wheels rather than with a trolley that does not have wheels.

Diagram 8 - an example of wheels and axles

There are two examples of wheels and axles in the Simple Machines Animation. See if you can find them.