SC 8 Unit 4 Textbook

U N I T
Mechanical
Systems
How many mechanical systems have you used today? You may not realize
it, but you use mechanical systems all the time to do simple tasks. When
you ride a bicycle, open a can, or sharpen a pencil, you have used a
mechanical system to help you complete a task.
All mechanical systems have an energy source. The
energy could come from electricity, gasoline, or solar
energy, but often the energy comes from humans.
(Remember that huge structures such as the pyramids
were built solely using human power!) The energy
needed to move this bicycle and this plane, for example,
comes from a pedalling human. Can you see how
machines help us perform tasks we might find difficult
to do otherwise? Imagine opening a can without a can
opener. Could you fly without a plane or other type
of aircraft?
In this unit, you will learn how some small, human-powered
mechanical devices work. You will see that tools as simple as a pair of
scissors function on the same principles as massive equipment powered
by fluid pressure and heat engines. You will discover the main factors in
the efficient operation of mechanical systems. You will also design and
build your own mechanical devices — including some powered by
hydraulics and pneumatics — and investigate their efficiency. Finally,
this unit examines how machines have changed as science and technology
have changed.
266
Unit Contents
TOPIC 1
Levers and
Inclined Planes 270
TOPIC 2
The Wheel and

Axle,Gears,
and Pulleys 285
TOPIC 3
Energy, Friction,
and Efficiency 296
TOPIC 4
Force, Pressure,
and Area 304
TOPIC 5
Hydraulics and
Pneumatics 313
TOPIC 6
Combining
Systems 326
TOPIC 7
Machines
Throughout
History 332
TOPIC 8
People and
Machines 342
U N I T 4
• How do we use
How many machines have you used today?
machines to do work and
How do we use mechanical devices such as
to transfer energy? levers and pulleys to help us perform tasks?
In Topics 1–3, you will learn about lots of
• How can we design and mechanical devices.
use machines efficiently
and responsibly?
• How have machines
changed over time?
How can the pressure of fluids be used to operate a machine such

as this amusement park ride? In Topics 4–6, you will learn how
fluids are used in mechanical systems, and how many systems —
even your body — are a combination of several smaller systems
working together.
268 MHR • Mechanical Systems

How have mechanical devices
changed over time? How do changes
in society and the environment affect
the mechanical devices we design?
In Topics 7–8, you will explore how
and why mechanical devices change
over time.
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Unit 4 Preview • MHR 269

T O P I C 1 Levers and Inclined Planes
A B
In a dictionary, find
the origin of the word
“lever.” Then look up
the meaning of the word
“leverage” and use it in
a sentence.
Figure 4.1A and B How are the screwdriver and the teeter-totter alike?
If you were to exert a force on a screwdriver, the screwdriver would

exert a force on something else, as shown in Figure 4.1A. Both the
What is the largest screwdriver and the teeter-totter (shown in Figure 4.1B) act as levers.
object you have ever As you learned in previous studies, a lever is a simple machine that
tried to lift? At the changes the amount of force you must exert in order to move an
time, did you think that object. It consists of a bar that is free to rotate around a fixed point.
there must be an easier This fixed point, the fulcrum, supports the lever (see Figure 4.2). The
way to do this? Write fulcrum is the lever’s point of rotation. The force that you exert on a
your responses to lever to make it move is called the effort force. This term is used to
these questions in your describe the force supplied to any machine in order to produce an
Science Log. As you
action. The load is the mass of an object that is moved or lifted by a
study this unit, you will
machine such as a lever. In other words, the load is the resistance to
discover some “better
movement that a machine must overcome. The distance between the
ways” to lift large
objects and move fulcrum and the effort force is called the effort arm. The distance
mechanical devices. between the fulcrum and the load is called the load arm.
load effort force
load arm effort arm
For tips on making a

great Science Log, turn fulcrum
to Skill Focus 3. Figure 4.2 A lever is a simple machine consisting of a bar that rotates around a fixed point,
the fulcrum.

You can discover levers in many different situations. Levers are
sorted into three classes. The class a lever belongs to depends on the Have you ever rowed or
position of the effort force, the load, and the fulcrum, as shown in sailed a boat? The oars in
Figures 4.3A, B, and C. As the photographs show, different classes of a rowboat and the rudder
levers are used for different purposes. of a sailboat are both
Class 1 levers. What class
In a Class 1 lever, the fulcrum is between the effort and the load. A
of lever do you think a
pair of scissors is an example of a Class 1 lever. This class of lever can canoe paddle is?
be used either for power or for precision.
A Class 2 lever, such as a wheelbarrow, always exerts a greater force
on the load than the effort force you exert on the lever. In this type of
lever, the load is between the effort and the fulcrum.
In a Class 3 lever — a hockey stick, for example — the effort is
exerted between the fulcrum and the load. When using a Class 3 lever,
you must exert a greater force on the lever than the lever exerts on the
load. However, the load can be moved very quickly.
Figure 4.3A An example of

a Class 1 lever
Figure 4.3B An example of a Class 2 lever Figure 4.3C An example of a Class 3 lever
Levers and Inclined Planes • MHR 271

S K I L L C H E C K
Initiating and Planning
Performing and Recording

4-A
Analyzing and Interpreting
Communication and Teamwork
Levers in Action
How does the position of the fulcrum affect the effort force you must exert to lift a
load? Do you have to exert a greater effort force on a Class 2 or a Class 3 lever to
lift the same load? In this investigation you will contrast different types of levers.
Hypothesis
Form a hypothesis about how the position of the fulcrum and the location of the
load affect the amount of effort force you must exert to lift the load.
Apparatus
sturdy board
brick (or similar heavy mass)
strong string
Procedure
Place the board on a desk Place the brick on the desk Try to lift the brick by push-
or work surface, with half on top of the end of the ing down on the free end of
its length extending over board. This makes a Class 1 the board.
the edge. lever, with the edge of the
desk acting as the fulcrum.
CAUTION Handle the brick
carefully so it does not fall
on your foot.

Repeat step 3 with most of Now tie the brick to the Finally, tie the brick to
the board’s length on the board so that the brick the far end of the board.
desk surface. hangs underneath it. Put one This makes a Class 3 lever.
end of the board on the desk Try lifting it while holding
and hold the other end. This the board in two or three
makes a Class 2 lever. Try different places. You will
to lift the brick while it is need to make sure the end
hanging at two or three of the board stays in place
different places along the on the desk.
board.
Analyze
1. (a) Which class or classes of lever exert(s) a load force
greater than your effort force?
Repeat step 3 with most of (b) Which class or classes of lever exert(s) a load force less
the board extending over than your effort force?
the edge of the desk. 2. Does a Class 1 lever always exert a load force that is greater
Compare the amount of than your effort force?
effort force you must exert 3. Which variable(s) was (were) the responding variable(s) in
in each position in steps this investigation? Which variable was manipulated?
3 to 5. Record your
observations.
Conclude and Apply
4. Write a statement comparing the advantages of Class 1,
Class 2, and Class 3 levers.

Bones and Muscles: Built-in Levers
Every time you move a finger, arm, or toe, you are using a lever. Your
bones act as levers and each of your joints acts as a fulcrum. Tendons
attach muscles to your bones. When a muscle contracts, the tendon
exerts an effort force on the bone. The load might be something that
you are lifting or pulling. The load could also be your own body; for
example, when you do a knee bend.
Most of the levers in your body are Class 3, but you can find Class 1
and Class 2 levers as well (see Figure 4.4).
A B C
Figure 4.4 Your body’s system of muscles and bones contains natural examples of levers,
including Class 1 (A), Class 2 (B), and Class 3 (C).
Look at the body levers shown in Figures 4.5A, B, and C. Decide the
class of each lever.
before after before before

calf biceps triceps
muscle
elbow elbow
contact contact
point point
after
ankle after
contact
point
A B C
Figure 4.5A The calf muscle provides Figure 4.5B The biceps muscle provides Figure 4.5C The triceps muscle provides
the effort force. Assume that a body the effort force. The hand is lifting a 15 the effort force. The hand is pulling the
weight of 600 N is the load. N object. rope down with a force of 30 N.

An Arm in Space
One of the most exciting technological applications of levers is the
Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, shown in Figure 4.6A.
This system is usually called the Canadarm. It functions much like a
human arm, and it was designed and built in Canada. The “joints”
are moved by gears. As the gears turn, they move the “arms,” which
resemble levers.
Figure 4.6A The Canadarm is an amazing application of gears Figure 4.6B The Space Station Mobile Servicing System will be
and levers in outer space. equipped with a smaller two-armed robot – the SPDM – to do
complex repair jobs in space.
The Canadarm is a valuable addition to the space shuttle program

because it helps launch and recover satellites from the shuttle’s cargo
bay. One of the Canadarm’s most important missions was the repair of
the Hubble Space Telescope. This orbiting telescope can see farther
and more clearly than any ground-based optical telescope. (You may
have learned about the Hubble Space Telescope in Unit 3.)
A more complex version of the Canadarm — the Space Station
Mobile Servicing System — is shown in Figure 4.6B. This system will
assist in assembling and maintaining the International Space Station. Do you remember the
The base of the system will move along rails spanning the entire length difference between mass
of the space station. When stretched out straight, the arm will be more and weight? Weight is a
force, and it is measured
than 17 m long. It will be equipped with a smaller two-armed robot
in units called newtons
that can do delicate repair jobs that astronauts themselves have done on (N). The mass of an
space walks until now. object is the measure of
Sixteen countries, includ- the amount of material in
Internet:
ing Canada, Russia, www.school.mcgrawhill.ca/resources/
it. Mass is measured in
Japan, and the United grams or kilograms. You
Learn more about the Canadarm and the International
measure weight with a
States, are co-operat- Space Station by going to the above web site. Go to
spring scale, or a force
ing in the planning Science Resources, then to SCIENCEFOCUS 8 to
meter. You measure mass
and assembling of the find out where to go next.
with a balance.
International Space Station.

What Is Work?
Does the title to this section sound like a silly question? Everyone
knows what work is! When you study for two hours, you have done a
As you continue your lot of work. Cleaning your room always seems like a lot of work.
studies in science, look
Carrying your backpack full of books is work. Or is it?
for more words that have
scientific meanings that
In everyday language, work can mean many different things.
are different from their However, in science, work has a special meaning. When you exert a
everyday meanings. Can force on an object and move that object some distance in the direction
you think of any of these of the force, you do work on the object. For example, in Investigation
words that you have 4-A, you exerted an effort force on the lever and moved it. You did
already learned in addition work on the lever. In turn, the lever exerted a force on the load (the
to work?
brick). The lever did work on the brick.
In science, work is defined as the product of the force exerted times
the distance moved.
Work = Force • Distance
Work is energy in action. Like energy, work is measured in units
called joules (J). The joule is named after English scientist James
Prescott Joule (1818–1889). In Unit 2, you learned that 1 N is approxi-
mately the weight of a 100 g mass. When you lift a 1 N weight a
distance of 1 m, you do 1 J of work.
To practise using the formula, assume that you exerted a force of
2.0 N on the lever and moved it a distance of 0.6 m. Calculate the work.
W=F•d
W = 2.0 N • 0.6 m
W = 1.2 J
You did 1.2 J of work on the lever. If the lever exerted a force of
6.0 N on the brick and moved it a distance of 0.20 m, how much work
did the lever do on the brick?
Figure 4.7A Somehow Think once more about carrying your backpack full of books down
Olivia has to get a box the hall at school. Assume that your full backpack weighs 40 N. If you
into the back of this truck.
Is lifting the box straight walk down the hall a distance of 16 m, how much work did you do on
up and carrying it to the your books? According to the scientific definition, you did no work!
back of the truck the Why? You were exerting a force upward on the backpack so it would
best option? not fall on the floor. However, you did not move upward. You moved
it in a horizontal direction.
The Inclined Plane

Figure 4.7B Olivia used an An inclined plane is a ramp or a slope that reduces the force you
inclined plane to help her need to exert to lift something. Inclined planes are also machines.
load the box of camping Look at the illustrations on the left. Olivia has the task of lifting a
gear into the truck. The
inclined plane decreased
50 kg box of camping gear into the back of the truck. The distance
the effort force Olivia from the ground to the back of the truck is 1 m (see Figure 4.7A).
needed by increasing the Lifting the box straight up and carrying it to the truck would be
distance through which her difficult. However, if Olivia used a board to make a ramp, as she does
effort force was applied.
in Figure 4.7B, she could probably push the box up.

Find Out
Easy Does It!
Why is it easier to climb a gentle hill than a 7. Repeat this procedure for ramp heights of
steep mountain trail or a cliff face? How does 0.10 m, 0.15 m, 0.20 m, and 0.25 m. Use a
the work you put into a machine (the work stack of books to create the ramps.
input) affect the work that the machine does
(work output)? Try this activity to answer
these questions.
Materials
spring scale
toy car or dynamics cart
string
tape (optional)
flat board at least 0.5 m long
metre stick
stack of books
Procedure Performing and Recording
1. Copy the data table shown here into

your notebook. Work Work
Height of Weight output (J) Effort Length of input (J)
ramp (m) (N) W = N × m force (N) ramp (m) W = N × m
2. Attach the spring scale to your car using
0.05
the string. You may want to attach the
0.10
string to the car with the tape.
0.15
3. Measure the weight of your car. Record 0.20
this information in your data table. 0.25
4. Calculate the amount of work needed to lift

the car for each height in the table without What Did You Find Out? Analyzing and Interpreting
using a ramp. Record this information 1. Which took more force, lifting the car
under the column “Work output (J).” straight up or using the ramp?
5. Using a thin book to prop up the board, 2. Write a statement explaining how the force
make a ramp that has one end raised 5 cm needed to pull the car up the ramp relates
(0.05 m). Use the spring scale to pull the to the length of the ramp.
car up the ramp. Pull at a slow, steady
speed. Record the effort force needed to 3. Write a statement explaining how the force
lift the car by pulling it up the ramp. needed to pull the car up the ramp relates
to the angle of the ramp.
6. Measure the length of the ramp. Then
calculate the amount of work required to 4. Did it require less work to pull the car up
pull the book up the ramp. This is the the ramp than it did to lift the car to the
work input. same height directly? Explain your answer.

Work Input and Work Output
When you do work on a machine such as a lever, the machine does
work on a load. The work you do on the machine is called input work.
The work the machine does on the load is the output work. You may
have noticed, when you did Investigation 4-A, that when your effort
force was small, the distance you pushed on the lever was large. At the
same time, the distance that the lever lifted the load was small. How do
you think that the input work compares to the output work?
You probably discovered, in the Find Out Activity, that your input
work on the ramp was nearly the same or larger than the output work.
As you continue to study mechanical systems, you will discover that
this is always true. A machine never does more work on the load than
you do on the machine. Why, then, do we often say that machines
make work easier? Machines make work easier because they change the
size or the direction of the force exerted on the machine. Think about
this. Could you lift a small, compact car a distance of one metre off the
ground? Could you lift yourself (climb) up five flights of stairs? The
two situations represent about the same amount of work.
What Is Mechanical Advantage?

Mechanical advantage is the comparison of the force produced by a
machine to the force applied to the machine. In other words, mechani-
cal advantage is the comparison of the size of the load to the size of the
effort force. The smaller the effort force compared to the load, the
greater the mechanical advantage. You can use the following formula
to calculate mechanical advantage:
Load force (FL)
Mechanical Advantage (MA) =
Effort force (FE)
Suppose you are a passenger in a truck that gets stuck in mud. You
and the driver use a tree branch as a lever to lift the truck out of the
mud, as shown in Figure 4.8. If you apply an effort force of 500 N to
the branch, and the back of the truck weighs 2500 N, then the
mechanical advantage of the branch-lever is 5. Note that no units are
used to express mechanical advantage because it is a ratio.
Figure 4.8 The mechanical
advantage of this branch- Load force (FL )
lever is 5. Mechanical Advantage (MA) =
Effort force (FE)
effort force = 2500 N

500 N
500 N =5
lever
fulcrum load force

2500 N

The branch-lever has exerted a force 5 times greater than the force
you exerted on it. This means the branch-lever made the job of lifting
the truck 5 times easier. Any machine with a mechanical advantage
What’s the advantage of
greater than 1 allows the user to move a large load with a relatively
using a bicycle if it has a
small effort force.
mechanical advantage
A machine can also have a mechanical advantage that is less than 1. that is less than 1? The
Imagine you are riding your bicycle. You exert an effort force of, say, advantage is that it caus-
736 N downward as you push on the pedal. The resulting load force es the tire to turn faster
that causes the bicycle to move forward is 81 N. The mechanical than the pedals and the
advantage of the bicycle is calculated as follows: bicycle moves faster than
your pedalling speed. You
gain a speed advantage.
Load force (FL )
Mechanical Advantage (MA) = What other devices have a
Effort force (FE) mechanical advantage
= 81 N less than 1? Write your
736 N ideas in your Science Log.
= 0.11
Finally, a machine may have a mechanical advantage equal to 1. For

example, suppose the effort force needed to raise a flag up a flagpole is
120 N. The load force — the flag plus the rope — is also 120 N.
Therefore, the mechanical advantage of the pulley on the flagpole is 1:
Load force (FL )
Mechanical Advantage (MA) =
Effort force (FE)
= 120 N
120 N
=1
Some machines do not have any effect on the effort force that you exert. They simply
change the direction of the effort force. For example, when you pull down on the cord of
window blinds, the blinds go up. Only the direction of the force changes. The effort force
and the load are equal, so the mechanical advantage is 1. Try to think of other mechanical
devices that have a mechanical advantage of 1. Write your ideas in your Science Log.
A crafty coyote is trying to use a catapult to

launch a heavy rock. The rock, with a mass of
1000 kg, sits on one end of a plank. The coyote
figures that if he jumps on the other end of the
plank, his 25 kg mass will be enough to launch
the rock into the air. Calculate the mechanical
advantage the catapult must have for the
coyote’s plan to work.

Find Out
Sharpen Up with Scissors
Is there a mechanical advantage to using CAUTION When using scissors, always
scissors? Is one way of using scissors easier cut away from your body.
than another? Make a prediction about
whether it takes less effort force to cut 2. Open the scissors wide, put the cardboard
cardboard with the tip of the blades or with close to the hinge of the scissors, and
the base of the blades near the hinge. again make a cut.
Safety Precautions What Did You Find Out? Analyzing and Interpreting
1. Does one method make cutting the card-

board easier than the other method?
Materials
2. Explain your observations based on what
scissors you have learned about levers, effort force,
piece of heavy cardboard or folded paper and mechanical advantage.
Procedure Performing and Recording 3. Describe how the effort arm relates to
1. Test your prediction. Try to cut the the load arm in these two photographs.
cardboard with the tip of the scissors.
You have been learning about different

types of levers and how they give us a
mechanical advantage. Create a web tutori-
al to teach other students about these
machines and the ways they help us do
work. In your tutorial, simulate the action
of the three different types of levers. Your
simulated levers can be simple machines,
such as the ones shown here, or they can
be parts of your body. Include a quiz and
an answer key for self-checking.

Another Way to Calculate Mechanical Advantage
Levers can exert a force on a load that is either greater than or less
than the effort force you exert. If the load is less than the effort force,
the lever’s mechanical advantage is less than 1. For example, a mechani- Surgeons use special
cal advantage of _21 shows that your effort goes only half as far compared tools in a type of
to a lever with a mechanical advantage of 1. microsurgery some-
The concepts of mechanical advantage and work can be linked. times called “keyhole
Imagine that you are trying to lift a heavy boulder, as the coyote is on surgery” because only
page 279. The closer you are to the fulcrum (the smaller rock), the a small incision is
needed. A long tube is
harder it is to lift the boulder. The longer the effort arm (the distance
pushed through the
between the fulcrum and the effort), the less effort it will take to lift the incision to the part of
boulder. The longer effort arm gives you a mechanical advantage. the patient’s body
Recall that Work = Force • Distance. You trade distance for force — requiring surgery. Fine
you move the board farther, but moving it is easier. However, the amount wires running through
of work you do is the same. This suggests another way to calculate the the tube operate tiny
levers to cut and
mechanical advantage of levers:
sew as needed. The
Load force (FL ) Effort arm surgeon watches the
Mechanical Advantage (MA) = = operation on a televi-
Effort force (FE) Load arm
sion screen connected
to a tiny camera at the
If the effort arm of the branch-lever mentioned on page 306 were end of the tube.
3 m, and the load arm were 0.3 m, then the mechanical advantage
would be calculated as follows:
Effort arm
(MA) =
Load arm
= 3m
0.3 m
= 10
Using the branch as a Class 1 lever allows the effort force to be

multiplied by 10.
Although it might seem strange, there are situations

in which you might want to increase the force that
you yourself exert. For example, you might need a
machine to perform a delicate precision task. Think
about how tweezers work as you study this photo-
graph. Which class of lever do they use? Infer
whether the mechanical advantage of tweezers will
be greater than 1, equal to 1, or less than 1.

Speedy Levers
When you calculated mechanical advantage, you learned that you can
use Class 1 levers to increase your effort force. You can exert only a
little force to achieve an incredible result. (This is why you can use a
simple Class 1 lever to lift very heavy objects.) Class 3 levers exert a
force on the load that is smaller than the effort force, so why would
you ever use such as lever? The advantage of a Class 3 lever is that the
force will move the load a greater distance and at a faster speed. That is
why you hit a hockey puck with the end of a metre-long stick. Speed is
the rate of motion, or the rate at which an object changes position.
Look at the baseball pitcher and the pizza chef in Figures 4.9A and B.
In both cases, the triceps muscle moves only a small amount to produce
the effort force needed to make the hand move rapidly through a
relatively large distance. The structure of the levers in the human body
makes it possible to perform delicate tasks with precision, as well as
major tasks requiring tremendous speed and flexibility.
If you need tips on

how to design an
experiment, turn to
Skill Focus 6.
A B
Figure 4.9A How can a small contraction Figure 4.9B Why does the spinning pizza
(shortening) of the triceps muscle produce the dough remain more or less in the same place?
long, fast movement of the pitcher’s hand?
Most of the levers inside your body have a
mechanical advantage smaller than 1.
Therefore, your muscles usually have to exert
a greater force on the lever (bone) than the
lever (bone) can exert on the load.
With a partner, design an experiment that tests what you have learned about the speed
advantage of Class 3 levers. Use simple materials, such as marbles and a ruler. Write a
hypothesis, and the steps that would test your hypothesis. What variable would you
manipulate? How would you measure the speed and distance?

Machines Made to Measure
Industrial designers study the dimensions of the human body in great
detail to make sure that every part of a machine or a product — such as
the ones shown in Figure 4.10 — will fit the person using it. Body Imagine you are an
ergonomist (an
weight, height, size, age, and sometimes gender are factors taken into
ergonomics designer)
account when designing products. These products can range from cars working on the
to office furniture to light switches. The science of designing machines International Space
to suit people is called ergonomics (from the Greek words ergon, Station program. What
meaning “work,” and nomos, meaning “natural laws”). sorts of problems might
you have to solve?
Remember that the
astronauts will be working
in cramped positions as
well as in weightlessness.
Write your ideas in your
Science Log.
A Another way to avoid

C
carpal tunnel syndrome
Figure 4.10 This space suit, child’s car seat, and assembly line in a factory have is to get rid of the key-
all been designed to ensure that they are easy, comfortable, and safe for people board altogether and to
to use. operate the computer
using a special pen-like
Ergonomics is especially important in the design of work environments device, which keeps the
where occupational safety is an issue. For example, a common work- wrist flat. “Palm pilots”
place disorder known as carpal tunnel syndrome causes numbness (hand-held computers)
are already pioneering
and pain in the thumb and first three fingers. Carpal tunnel syndrome
this approach. Perhaps
results from repetitive movements of the fingers, such as working at a one day home computers
computer keyboard. If the tendons that attach muscles to bones in the will be able to “read”
wrist become irritated, they swell and start to squeeze the nerve inside your handwriting —
the carpal tunnel. If the condition is not treated soon after the symp- however messy it is!
toms appear, severe pain as far up as the shoulder can result. The Voice-activated computer
programs are also reduc-
damage could become permanent. The most common treatment for
ing the incidence of
carpal tunnel syndrome is a brace that holds the wrist straight. This carpal tunnel syndrome.
prevents irritation of the tissues near the carpal tunnel.

Looking Ahead
Dr. Janet Ronsky knows the human knee joint. And that information helps doctors
The simple machines
like the back of her hand. She is a biome- decide how to treat the patient.
you have learned about
chanical engineer and an associate For Janet, working in bioengineering is the
in this Topic are used
professor at the University of Calgary. Her perfect career. “Once I discovered I could
to make work easier.
research on the knee joint helps doctors and apply engineering to medical problems,” she
Turn to “Adapting
other researchers understand how the shape explains, “and possibly make a difference in
Tools” on page 354 to
of a person’s bones may contribute to people’s everyday lives, I was hooked!” She
preview the project you
degenerative joint diseases such as takes her work very seriously, and she’s not
will be undertaking at
osteoarthritis. Many specialists believe that the only one who thinks it is important. In
the end of this unit.
the bones of some people's joints press 1999, Dr. Ronsky was presented with the
Start thinking of a tool
together in an unusual way as they walk. McCaig Program Development Award by the
or utensil you might
This may wear down the cartilage, the Calgary Regional Health Authority. She was
want to adapt using the
cushioning material between those bones, also awarded a Natural Science and
knowledge you have
and result in joint problems. Engineering Research Council of Canada
gained so far.
Dr. Ronsky and her research team have (NSERC) Women's Faculty Award in 1994.
found a way to analyze the surface of the
joint bones while a person is walking. This
is important because the contact between
the bones changes over the course of the
walking motion. The research team uses
medical imaging along with high-speed
camera and video systems that track the
movement of the body parts. Other special-
ized equipment allows them to measure the
force a person applies to different parts of
the joint as they walk. By analyzing the three
types of information, Dr. Ronsky can predict
what is happening inside the patient's knee
TOPIC 1 Review
1. Classify the levers in the illustrations as Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3.
2. How much work, in joules, must you do to lift an elephant weighing

60 000 N up 1.5 m onto the back of a truck?
3. You have found a ramp to lead up to the back of the truck. Will you and
your team need to exert more, less, or the same forces as in question 2?
4. If you exert a force of 100 N on a hockey stick, and the stick exerts a
force of 20 N on the puck, what is the mechanical advantage of the stick?
5. If the “effort arm” distance for the hockey stick in question 4 (between
your “fulcrum” hand and your pushing hand) is 25 cm, how long is the
stick? (Use your answer to question 4.) If your hand is pushing at a speed
of 20 km/h, how fast will the puck move?
6. Thinking Critically Think of a practical use for a lever with a

mechanical advantage of 1. Draw a sketch of this lever in action.

T O P I C 2 The Wheel and Axle,
Gears, and Pulleys
Earlier, you discovered that you can lift a
heavy load as long as you can find a lever
that is long enough and strong enough to
do the job. Sometimes, however, levers
are not practical, as shown in
Figure 4.11. Fortunately, there are many
other kinds of machines that can give
you a mechanical advantage great
enough to move a heavy load with a
much smaller effort force. Think about
this question: How could you modify a lever to make it shorter, but still Figure 4.11 No one would
able to move a load over a longer distance? Look for clues in Figure ever try to lift an elephant
like this!
4.12A, which shows a person loading a motor boat onto a boat-trailer.
A Lever That Keeps on Lifting

The device the person is using to move the boat is called a winch. The handle of a manual
A winch consists of a small cylinder and a crank or handle. Study pencil sharpener and the
Figure 4.12B to see how a winch works. Notice that the axle of the reel on a fishing rod are
winch is held in place and acts like a fulcrum. The handle is like the examples of winches.
effort arm of a lever. Exerting a force on the handle turns the wheel.
This motion is much like the effort force on a lever. However, you do
not reach “bottom” with the handle. You just keep turning.
load arm
(radius of
cylinder)
fulcrum
d effort arm
loa
(length of
handle)
effort
A B
Figure 4.12 A winch makes loading a boat onto a trailer relatively easy.
Notice that the radius of the wheel — the distance from the centre
of the wheel to the circumference — is like the load arm of a lever. The
force that the cable exerts on the wheel is like the load on a lever. Since
the handle is much longer than the radius of the wheel, the effort force
is smaller than the load. Using a winch is like using a short lever over
and over again.
The Wheel and Axle, Gears, and Pulleys • MHR 285

The Wheel and Axle
A winch is just one example of a wheel-and-axle device. As you can see
in Figure 4.13, wheel-and-axle combinations come in a variety of
shapes and sizes. The “wheel” does not even have to be round. As long
as two turning objects are attached to each other at their centres, and
one causes the other to turn, you can call the device a wheel and axle.
You can hardly open your eyes without seeing a wheel-and-axle
machine of some sort. Study Figure 4.13 and identify the wheel-and-
axle devices. Remember that some instruments or machines have more
than one wheel-and-axle combination. The wheel and axle is more
convenient than a lever for some tasks, and, like a lever, it provides a
mechanical advantage.
A B C
Figure 4.13 Each of these

objects contains a wheel Speed and Action
and axle.
Gaining a mechanical advantage is one benefit of using a wheel-and-
axle device. Just like a lever, a wheel-and-axle device can also generate
speed, as shown in Figures 4.14A and B. In return, however, these
machines require a large effort force and produce a smaller force on
the load.
Figure 4.14A Look at the pedals and the Figure 4.14B What are the possible benefits of
front wheel on this tricycle. Is the effort force the huge wheel on this old-fashioned bicycle?
exerted on the wheel or the axle? What does
the clown get in return for the effort put into
the machine?

Gearing Up
A wheel-and-axle device provides speed for a race
A
car zooming around a track. However, the wheel
and the axle are attached to each other, so each
makes the same number of rotations every second.
Suppose you wanted to make one wheel rotate
faster than another wheel. For example, a clock has
follower gear driver gear
a second hand, a minute hand, and an hour hand,
each rotating at different speeds from the same
point.
B
A gear is a rotating wheel-like object with teeth
around its rim. A group of two or more gears is
called a gear train. Two different gear trains (A and
B) are shown in Figure 4.15. The teeth of one gear
fit into the teeth of another. When the first gear
turns, its teeth push on the teeth of the second
gear, causing the second gear to turn. The first Figure 4.15 A gear train
gear, or driving gear (often called the driver), may turn because consists of two or more
someone is turning a handle or because it is attached to a motor. The gears in contact with
second gear is called the driven gear (often called the follower). Can each other.
you find a gear train in Figure 4.16? Figures 4.17 and 4.18 on page 288
illustrate two other applications of gears. Find out what gears can help
you do in the next activity.
Figure 4.16 This combine features sprockets and belts, as well as a gear train.

Figure 4.17 This diagram shows how the gears inside an old- Figure 4.18 The gears inside a large telescope are designed so
fashioned clock ensure that the minute hand makes exactly that the telescope can track the constant slow motion of stars
60 full rotations when the hour hand makes one full rotation. across the sky with incredible precision.
Find Out
Turnaround Time
How many times does the follower gear turn 4. Divide the diameter of the larger gear by
when the driver gear makes one full turn? the diameter of the smaller gear. Record
Does the number of rotations depend on how your answer. Compare this number with
much larger the driver gear is? the number you recorded in step 2.
Materials 5. Count the number of teeth on each gear.

set of gears of different sizes — for example, Divide the number of teeth on the larger
from a Spirograph™ or Lego Technik™ set gear by the number of teeth on the smaller
gear. Record your answer. Compare this
felt tip pen and ruler
number with the numbers you calculated
Procedure Performing and Recording in steps 2 and 4.
1. With a felt tip pen, make a mark on one What Did You Find Out? Analyzing and Interpret
tooth of each of the two gears, at the spot
1. Why does the smaller gear complete one
where they touch.
full rotation before the larger gear does?
2. Turn one gear and count the number of (Look at the felt tip marks as the gears
times the smaller gear turns when the go around.)
larger gear makes one full turn. Record
2. If the larger gear had three times as many
this number.
teeth, how many rotations would the small-
3. Measure and record the diameters of each er gear make in one rotation of the larger
of the gears. gear? How much bigger would the larger
gear be in this case?
3. Explain two different measurements that

you could use to predict the numbers of
turns a small gear will make every time
the large gear makes one full turn. What
would you predict about the mechanical
advantage of this gear combination?
Write a statement that summarizes your
conclusion about gears.

Going the Distance
Can one gear turn another gear without touching it? Does this sound
impossible? Think about the gears on your bicycle. One set of gears is
attached to the pedals and another to the rear wheel. A chain connect-
ing the gears allows the front gear to turn the gear on the rear wheel,
some distance away. A gear with teeth that fit into the links of a chain is
called a sprocket. Figure 4.19 compares gears in contact with each
other and gears in a sprocket.
A B
wheel and pinion (gears in contact) chain and sprockets
Figure 4.19 Take a look at this comparison of gears in contact (A) and gears, or sprockets,
connected by a chain (B). While the gears in contact turn in opposite directions, the gears
connected by a chain turn in the same direction.
Each link of a bicycle chain moves the same distance in the same
period of time. Thus, if the front sprocket moves the chain a distance
equal to 45 teeth, the back sprocket will also move through a distance
of 45 teeth. However, the back sprocket may have only 15 teeth and
the front sprocket may have 45 teeth. As a result, the back sprocket
would make three full turns for every one complete turn of the front
sprocket. The relationship between the speed of rotations of a smaller
gear and a larger gear is called the speed ratio. In this example, the
bicycle has a speed ratio of 3. Here is the formula for calculating
speed ratio:
Number of driver gear teeth
Speed ratio =
Number of follower gear teeth
In the next investigation, examine the speed ratio of gears in a bicycle.
Figure 4.20 This enormous

conveyor belt is used at Syncrude
Oil Sands in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
The belt acts like a chain. Can you
see the sprockets?

S K I L L C H E C K

4-B
Gear Up for Speed!

How do bicycle gears help your bicycle go faster, or help you pedal up
a hill? What is the difference between high gear and low gear? Why
would you want more than one gear on your bicycle anyway? This
investigation will demonstrate how gears on a bicycle can give you
a mechanical advantage.
Question
How does the speed ratio change as you switch between different gears on
a bicycle, and how does this affect the force you need to pedal the bicycle?
Apparatus
bicycle with double set of
racing gears
Procedure
Make a data table like the Count the number of teeth Count the number of teeth
one shown below. Give your on each of the front sprock- on each of the back sprock-
table a suitable title. You ets. Record these numbers ets. Record these numbers
may have to change the in the row of your table to in the column below the
number of rows and the right of the heading, heading, “Number of teeth.”
columns, depending on the “Number of teeth.” Make Again, make sprocket num-
number of sprockets on the sprocket number 1 the ber 1 the largest sprocket.
bicycle you are using. largest sprocket.
Front sprockets
1 2 3 For tips on creating data tables, turn
Number of teeth
Back sprockets
to Skill Focus 10.

1
2
3
4
5
6

For each box in the rest of Analyze
the table, divide the number 1. What do the data indicate about the number of times the
of teeth in the front sprocket back sprocket and the wheels turn when the front sprocket
(at the top of the column) by and the pedals make one full turn?
the number of teeth in the
2. Explain what you think “high gear” and “low gear” mean.
back sprocket (in the first
column of the table). This 3. If the speed ratio increases when you change gear, will the
gives you the speed ratio of mechanical advantage of the bicycle increase or decrease?
each gear combination. (Hint: Remember what you learned about trading force for
distance or speed.)
Conclude and Apply

4. Why do you need to pedal faster to go at the same speed
when your bicycle is in a lower gear?
5. Which gear helps you go faster on level ground? Why?
6. Why do you use low gear when going up hills?

Pulleys
Figure 4.21 How does this weight machine allow the woman to lift weights safely and comfortably?
You learned in previous studies that a pulley is a grooved wheel with

a rope or a chain running along the groove. You can see an example of
pulleys in action in Figure 4.21. A pulley is similar to a Class 1 lever.
Instead of a bar, a pulley has a rope. The axle of the pulley acts like a
fulcrum. The two sides of the pulley are the effort arm and the load arm.
Pulleys can be fixed or movable, as shown in Figure 4.22. A fixed
pulley is attached to something that does not move, such as a ceiling,
a wall, or a tree. A fixed pulley, such as the one used at the top of a
flagpole, can change the direction of an effort force. When you pull
down on the effort arm with the rope, the
pulley raises the object attached to the load
arm. Thus, a single fixed pulley simply
changes the direction of the motion and
makes certain movements more convenient.
Once the flagpole pulley is attached, you can
raise and lower the flag without ever climbing
to the top of the flagpole!
A movable pulley is attached to something
else, often by a rope that goes around the
pulley itself. If a rope is fixed to the ceiling
and then comes down around the pulley and
back up, you can lift and lower the pulley
MA = 1 MA = 2
single fixed pulley single movable pulley itself by pulling on the rope. The load may
be attached to the centre of the pulley.
Figure 4.22 Pulleys can be fixed or movable.

Supercharging Pulleys
You saw that a wheel-and-axle combination can be compared to a lever.
It would seem logical to analyze a pulley in the same way. However, if
you imagine a pulley as a lever, you will discover that the “effort” arm
and the “load” arm are the same. So how do pulleys help you lift
heavy loads?
You have seen that a single pulley can make lifting a load more
convenient. Combinations of pulleys are required to lift very heavy
or awkward loads (see Figure 4.23). The very complex pulley system
shown in Figure 4.24 is a combination of fixed and movable pulleys,
called a block and tackle. Depending on the number of
Figure 4.23 This oil pump
pulleys used, a block and tackle can have a large mechanical
uses several pulleys and a
advantage. You have probably noticed that pulley systems lever to raise and lower the
designed to lift very heavy loads have long cables running pump valves to bring the
around several pulleys. How can you determine the mechanical oil to the surface.
advantage of a compound pulley — one made up of several
pulleys working together? To find out, perform the investiga-
Figure 4.24 A block
tion on the next page. As a warm-up, you can also do the MA = 4 and tackle
activity below.
Find Out
Tug of War
How can you increase the mechanical Experiment with different numbers of
advantage of a pulley? rope windings.
Safety Precaution
Always wear gloves to protect your hands
from rope burn.
Materials
2 broom handles or similar smooth poles
rope or twine (about 4 m)
Procedure Communication and Teamwork
1. Two students hold the upright broom What Did You Find Out? Analyzing and Interpr
handles between them, side by side. 1. Does increasing the number of rope wind-
ings make it easier for the student pulling
2. Tie one end of the rope to one broom the rope to move the handles together?
handle, and pass it once around the
other handle. 2. What forces do the two students holding
the handles experience?
3. A third student should try to pull the
handles together using the rope, while Extension
the other two try to hold them apart. 3. Is there any change in how far the student
has to pull the rope as the number of
4. Now wind the rope a couple more times
windings increases?
around the handles, and try again.

S K I L L C H E C K

4-C
Pick It Up
Imagine you and your group are a team of Safety Precautions
engineers working for the Ace Crane Company.
You are in the process of developing a new crane Materials
wood, cardboard, dowelling, Lego™ parts (or similar
to be used in the construction industry. construction kit parts), string, glue gun, 12 N weight
Challenge Design Specifications

Use your knowledge of simple machines to design Build a model (a prototype) that can lift a load of
and build a prototype of a crane. The crane must 12 N (to represent the 12 000 N weight) with an
feature a wheel-and-axle system that can lift effort of 4 N (to represent the 4000 N force).
weights of up to 12 000 N. The motor that must
be used to turn the crane’s wheel-and-axle system Plan and Construct
can generate a force of 4000 N on the rim of
As a group, discuss potential designs. Make
the axle.
technical drawings and discuss possible prob-
lems with each design until you have decided
on a design that you think will work.
Select the materials for the prototype.
Show your plan to your teacher for approval.
Collect your materials and draw a blueprint.

Assign the tasks among your team members.
Construct your prototype. You should have

some members of your team working on the
wheel-and-axle system and others working on
the body of the crane.
Test your crane using a 12 N load.
Evaluate
1. Does your mechanical device satisfy all the
conditions in the Challenge? If not, how
could you modify the design to make it
work? If you have the opportunity, make
and test your modifications.
2. Write a report that describes your device.

Include your blueprint and clearly label
each part. Discuss any problems your
team had with the device and present
possible solutions.

TOPIC 2 Review
1. Draw a sketch of a single pulley in an arrangement that gives a
mechanical advantage of 1. Then draw a sketch of a single pulley in
an arrangement that gives a mechanical advantage of 2.
2. If you wanted a winch to have a mechanical advantage of 4 and the radius

of the axle was 5 cm, how long would the handle have to be?
3. Find the overall mechanical advantage of the pulley system shown in the
diagram below.
4. Thinking Critically If a bicycle has two sprockets on the front and

four sprockets on the back, how many different gear combinations
should it have?
5. Design Your Own Design an experiment that would test the advantage
of using a mechanical system to lift a bucket of cement to a height of 1 m.
Use the mechanical system of your choice (e.g., inclined plane, pulley,
etc.). Be sure to identify responding and manipulated variables, and to
specify a control. After you have performed your investigation, list criteria
for assessing your solution to the problem.

T O P I C 3 Energy, Friction,
and Efficiency
A Work and Energy
You have learned about many different kinds of simple machines in the
last two Topics. In every case — levers, pulleys, gears, and sprockets —
when someone did work on the machine, the machine did work on a
load. You have learned that, in science, work has a specific meaning.
Have you figured out just what work really is? Work is a transfer of
energy. You use energy when you push on the pedals of a bicycle and
make them move (see Figure 4.25A). Now the pedals have the energy
of motion called kinetic energy. The pedals are attached to the
B
sprocket. This combination forms a wheel-and-axle machine. This
machine does work on the sprocket and chain machine, transferring
energy to it. Trace the energy transfers throughout the entire bicycle.
What is the final form of energy?
You may already know that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It
has to come from somewhere. When you do work on a machine, where
did you get the energy? Your energy came from the chemical energy
C stored in the food you eat.
Most of today’s machines are not “people powered.” Two of the most
common sources of energy for machines are illustrated in Figure 4.25
B and C. Most vehicles such as this large combine obtain energy from
fuels such as gasoline. The refrigerator runs on electrical energy.
Stored Energy
Energy must be transferred to a machine to make the machine work.
However, we want to control when the machines work and when they
Figure 4.25 (A) The source do not. So, we need to store the energy in some way, then use it when
of energy for this machine we need it. Stored energy is also called potential energy. Much of the
is the person. (B) This energy for machines, including your body, is stored as chemical energy.
combine gets its energy
You could call this chemical potential energy.
from fuel. (C) Electricity
is the source of energy In the next activity, you are going to transfer energy to a machine
for the compressor on made of a tube and small ball. This activity will help you to understand
this refrigerator. another form of potential energy, gravitational potential energy. You
will do work on the ball by lifting it to a high level.
When you lift it to a higher level, what is the form of the energy that
you have transferred to the ball? It is not moving so it has no kinetic
energy. However, if you released it, the force of gravity would make it
fall and give it kinetic energy. This type of stored energy is called
gravitational potential energy. What practical systems store energy in
the form of gravitational potential energy? Hint: Look at Figure 4.26.

The ultimate source of
energy for Earth is the
Sun. The Sun causes
winds to blow, drives the
water cycle, and can be
captured as solar energy.
As well, some fuels, such
as oil and gas, are made
of the remains of plants
that grew million of years
ago using the Sun’s ener-
gy. Can you think of other
Figure 4.26 How is gravitational potential energy being stored here? Into forms of energy and how
what form of energy will this stored energy be converted? the Sun affects them?
Find Out
A Rubber Roller Coaster
What is the best design for a roller coaster? Performing and Recording
Your challenge is to work in a team to design a Procedure
roller coaster with two hills. A small ball must
1. Tape one end of the tube to the wall. Have
be able to travel the entire length of the tube.
one person in your team hold the other
Materials end of the tube at chest height.
4 m of 5 mm diameter vinyl or rubber tubing 2. Use the rest of the tubing to make two
tape hills. Determine the maximum height that
small ball that will fit inside tubing the hills can be so that the ball still makes
(for example, ball bearing) it to the end of the tube.
metre stick 3. Examine the photograph. Will the students’
design work? Explain. Experiment with
other designs. How do different designs
affect the movement of the ball? Sketch
some of your designs and describe how
well they worked.
What Did You Find Out? Analyzing and Interpre
Sketch your roller coaster and show where

the ball has potential energy and where it has
kinetic energy.
Energy, Friction, and Efficiency • MHR 297

Energy Transmitters
Earlier you learned how energy can be converted from one form into
another. Energy, or power, can also be transmitted. In energy
transmission, the energy is transferred from one place to another,
and no energy is changed or converted. For example, the chain on your
bicycle links the two sprockets. Electrical wires transmit the power
from the generating station to your home. The chain and the electrical
wires are both energy transmitters.
Figure 4.27 The fan belt
transmits power from a
car’s crankshaft to a fan
that cools the radiator and
to a pulley that turns an
alternator. The alternator
produces electricity for
use in the car or storage
in the battery.
No Machine Is 100 Percent Efficient

An ideal machine would transfer all of the energy it received to a
load or to another machine. However, real machines do not work this
efficiently. Some of the energy is always lost. The work output of a
machine is always less than the work input.
No machine is perfect, but some machines come closer than others.
The efficiency of a machine tells you how much of the energy you
gave to the machine was transferred to the load by the machine.
Efficiency is a comparison of the useful work provided by a machine or
a system with the work supplied to the machine or system. Efficiency is
usually stated as a percentage. If we use a lever as an example, you can
calculate the efficiency of the lever by using this formula:
Work done by lever on load
Efficiency = × 100%
Work done on lever by effort force
The higher the efficiency, the better the lever is at transferring energy.
A “perfect” machine would transfer all the work done by the effort
and would be 100 percent efficient. However, the efficiency of real
machines is always less than 100 percent. Why? Every time a machine
does work, some energy is lost because of friction. Think about a pair
of hedge trimmers. As you close the handles, the blades rub against
each other. If the blades are rusty, they will tend to stick even more.
Many car engines are You could summarize this situation by means of the following
only about 20 percent word equation:
efficient. Where does
all the “lost” energy go? Work done on a machine = Work done by the machine
+ energy lost as heat due to friction

Many machines can be made more efficient by reducing friction.
You can usually do this by adding a lubricant (such as oil or grease) to
surfaces that rub together, as shown in Figure 4.28. After a time, dirt
will build up on the grease or oil, and the lubricant will lose its
effectiveness. The dirty lubricant should be wiped off and replaced
with clean grease or oil.
Boosting Efficiency
You have seen that gears are modified wheel-and-axle machines. A gear
is simply a wheel with teeth along its circumference. Effort exerted on Figure 4.28 You can
improve a machine’s
one gear causes another gear to turn. The mechanical advantage of a efficiency by oiling parts
pair of gears is found by dividing the radius of the effort gear by the of it to reduce friction.
radius of the load gear.
As you have learned, some of the effort force put into any
machine must overcome friction. For example, some of the
effort force you exert when you pedal a bike must over-
come the friction of the pedal gear rubbing against the
bicycle chain. This reduces the efficiency of the bicycle.
Low-efficiency machines lose much of the work put
into them because of friction; high-efficiency machines
do not.
You can boost the efficiency of a machine such as a
bicycle. You have seen that you can increase efficiency
by adding a lubricant such as oil or grease to the surfaces
that rub together. If a bicycle’s chain, gears, and other mov-
ing parts are cleaned and lubricated periodically, the bike will
operate more efficiently. Also, keeping the tires properly inflated
will reduce friction between the road and the tires. Similarly, keeping
car tires properly inflated and changing the engine oil to keep it clean
will increase the efficiency of a car. A more efficiently running car gives
better gas mileage and saves both money and energy.
Useful Friction
Often we need friction for machines to work properly. If you did not
If you have ever ridden a
have any friction between bike tires and the ground, your bike would
bike that is poorly main-
slip. You would also slip if there were no friction between your running
tained you will know that
shoes and the ground. Many sports and outdoor activities use friction it is hard work fighting
in a useful way. Baseball players and gymnasts rub a powder called friction. Inflating the tires
rosin on their hands to increase friction and improve their grip. Curlers and oiling the moving
“sweep” the ice in front of their rock to decrease the friction, so that parts helps reduce fric-
the rock goes farther and straighter. Can you think of other places tion. In your Science Log,
list some other ways you
where friction is useful? (Here’s a hint: What happens when you rub
could reduce friction for
your hands together?) Explore efficiency and friction further in the a bicycle rider.
next investigation.

S K I L L C H E C K

4-D
Easy Lifting
Industrial pulley systems are usually made up of many pulleys working
together. As you know, a combination of pulleys is called a compound pulley.
Do compound pulleys make lifting more efficient?
Questions
How can you calculate the mechanical advantage of a compound pulley?
How can you test the efficiency of a pulley system?
Hypothesis
Form a hypothesis about how using compound pulleys affects the ability
to lift an object.
Safety Precautions Apparatus 2 double pulleys

• Be very careful not to drop any 10 N spring scale 1 triple pulley
heavy weights. 1 kg mass
• Have your teacher check your support stand, held firmly in place Materials
apparatus before you make any rope (at least 6 m)
measurements. 2 single pulleys
Procedure
Make a data table like this A
one. Give your table a title.
Number of
Trial Load Effort ropes
A single
B pulley
C
D
E
every row of your table, in Count the number of ropes

the column labelled “Load.” that are supporting the load
and record the number in
Assemble the apparatus as the column labelled
shown for Trial A above. “Number of ropes.”
While supporting the load
with the spring scale, read
the amount of force shown
on the scale. Record this
number in the column of
Suspend the mass on the your table labelled “Effort.” For tips on using a spreadsheet
spring scale and observe the program, turn to Skill Focus 9.
weight. Record this value in

Repeat steps 3 and 4 for
trials B through E, shown
Analyze
below. 1. Make an analysis table with the following headings to
record the results of your calculations. Give your table a
B title.
single
pulley Trial Number of ropes Mechanical advantage
A
B
single
C
pulley
D
E
2. For each trial, divide the weight of the load by the effort
force. Record this number in your table in the column
labelled “Mechanical advantage.”
C double
3. For each trial, copy “Number of ropes” from your data table
pulley
to your analysis table.
single
pulley 4. What were the manipulating and responding variables in this
investigation?
Conclude and Apply

5. Compare the mechanical advantage with the number of
ropes for every trial. What conclusion can you draw from
this comparison?
D double
pulley Extension
6. Determine the efficiency of the compound pulley in Trial E.
You can calculate efficiency using the same formula you used
previously for levers:
double
pulley Work done on load
Efficiency = × 100%
Work done by effort force
Remember that work equals force multiplied by distance. Thus,

you will need to repeat Trial E to measure how far the effort and
the load move. What is the efficiency of your pulley system?
E
triple
Why is it less than 100 percent?
pulley
double
pulley
If you have access to a computer spreadsheet program, you may want to use it
for your data tables.

TOPIC 3 Review
1. Identify two places where energy was converted and two places where
energy has been transmitted in the following scene. Your clock radio
wakes you up at 7:00 a.m. and you turn on the bedside lamp. After a
quick shower, you eat a breakfast of cereal and toast, hop on your bike,
and ride to school.
2. (a) Define efficiency.

(b) What is the formula for calculating the efficiency of a
mechanical system?
3. Describe how a conveyor belt uses friction in a useful way. Give one
more example of a situation in which friction is applied in a useful way.
4. Design Your Own Write your own question about the efficient
operation of mechanical systems and design your own investigation to
explore possible answers. Be sure to identify responding and manipulated
variables, and to specify a control.
For tips on designing

A good ice skater can glide quickly across the ice with
your own experiment,
only a little effort, because the small area and smooth
turn to Skill Focus 6.
surface of the blades mean there is very little friction
between the ice and the skates. The pressure of the
blades on the ice melts the ice a bit. When the ice
melts, it leaves a thin film of water between the skate
blades and the ice. The water layer acts as a lubricant
and helps the blades slide smoothly across the ice
without sticking. Think of other ways in which friction
can be reduced in machines. Write your ideas in your
Science Log.
Does a lever always do as much work on the load as

you do on the lever? Suppose you have a summer
job trimming hedges. Someone leaves the hedge-
trimming shears out in the rain, causing the bolt at
the joint to get rusty. The next time you trim the
hedge, you discover that you have to exert a much
greater force on the handles than you did before.
You are doing more work on the shears, but the
shears are doing the same amount of work on the
hedge that they did before the joint rusted. In your
Science Log, explain why this happens.

Wrap-up TOPICS 1–3
If you need to check an item, Topic numbers are provided in brackets below.
Key Terms
lever Class 3 lever ergonomics driving gear (driver) compound pulley
fulcrum inclined plane carpal tunnel driven gear (follower) potential energy
effort force work syndrome sprocket kinetic energy
load joules winch speed ratio transmission
effort arm work input radius pulley efficiency
load arm work output wheel and axle fixed pulley
Class 1 lever mechanical advantage gear movable pulley
Class 2 lever speed gear train block and tackle
Reviewing Key Terms 12. The distance from the fulcrum to the load is
Copy the crossword puzzle into your notebook the load ______________. (1)
and complete it using some key terms listed above. 13. A hockey stick is this kind of lever. (1)
8
Understanding Key Concepts
1
9 14. Which class of lever always has a mechanical
2 advantage that is less than 1? Give an example
10
11 12
of this type of lever. (1)
3
13 15. State at least three situations in which it
4 would be more practical to use a wheel and
5 axle rather than to use a lever. (2)
6 16. Explain how a winch is like a lever. (2)

7 17. Sketch a diagram showing how you could use
one single pulley and one double pulley to
Across gain a mechanical advantage of 3. (2)
1. The unit for work. (1)
18. Which of these does not describe what
2. Its teeth fit into the links of a chain. (2) a machine does? (1, 3)
3. A bottle opener is this kind of tool. (1) (a) changes the effort force
4. The point where a lever does not move. (1) (b) transforms energy
5. Turn the handle of this machine and it (c) changes the direction of a force
will pull on a cable and wrap it around a
(d) does work
cylinder. (2)
6. This gear turns another gear. (2) 19. Describe as many ways as you can in which
7. Energy that causes something to move. (3) a simple machine can make work easier.
(1, 2, 3)
Down
8. The transfer of energy through motion. (3) 20. Many machines, including levers, wheel-and-
9. A wheel that turns and allows a rope to move axle devices, and pulleys, exert a greater force
over it easily. (2) on a load than you exert on the machine.
What do you have to do in return for a
10. A wheel with teeth. (2)
mechanical advantage that is greater than 1?
11. The percentage of work done on a machine (1, 2, 3)
that the machine then does on the load. (3)
Wrap-up Topics 1–3 • MHR 303

T O P I C 4 Force, Pressure, and Area
As you learned in Unit 1, the force (F) acting over a certain area (A) is
called pressure (p). When you change the area and keep the force
constant, the pressure changes. This happens when you strap on snow-
Use your understanding shoes, for example. The force (your body’s weight) remains the same
of pressure, force, and
with or without snowshoes. However, snowshoes increase the area over
area to describe why the
head and point of a nail
which the force is spread. This reduces the pressure, so you stay on top
are shaped as they are. of the snow instead of sinking through it.
Why is it easier to slice
food using a sharp knife, Calculating Pressure
rather than a dull one?
The equation for pressure is written as: Pressure = Force or p = F
Write your answers in Area A
your Science Log. Recall that force is measured in newtons (N) and area is measured in
square metres (m2 ). The unit for pressure, therefore, is newtons per
square metres (N/m2). This unit is also called a pascal (Pa). A kilopascal
(kPa) is equal to 1000 Pa. How does popping a balloon with a pin
demonstrate this equation? Try the next activity to find out.
Find Out
Pop ’em Quick!
Suppose you were in a contest to see who 3. Repeat step 2 using a pencil instead of
could pop the greatest number of balloons in your finger.
1 min. What could you do to pop the balloons 4. Repeat step 2 using the straight pin
as quickly as possible? instead of your finger.
Materials
3 balloons straight pin pencil
Safety Precautions
Be careful when using sharp objects such as
straight pins.
Wear goggles to protect your eyes from pieces

What Did You Find Out? Analyzing and Interpreting
of flying balloon.
1. Which method required less force to pop
Procedure Performing and Recording the balloon? Which method was faster?
1. Blow up the balloons to approximately the
2. Which “popping tool” had the smaller
same size. Knot the end of each one.
surface area: your finger, the pencil, or the
2. Set one balloon on a table. Push your straight pin?
index finger into the balloon until it pops.
3. Which popping method required more
(You may need to steady the balloon with
pressure?
your other hand.)

Calculate the difference
in the pressure placed on
snow if you were stand-
ing in the snow on one
snowshoe compared to
standing in the snow in
one boot. Assume that
the area of a snowshoe
is 0.20 m2 and the area
of a boot is 0.05 m2.
Figure 4.29 How can the man lie on this bed of nails and not injure himself? While lying on a
bed of nails may sound painful, can you imagine lying on a single nail? Which would hurt more?
On the bed of nails, the force of the man’s weight is spread over a larger area. Thus, although
the nails may poke a bit, the man’s feat isn’t life-threatening.
Equipped Against Pressure

Before a game, football players spend a lot of time strapping on
protective equipment. Helmets, chest protectors, and shoulder pads all
help spread any force — such as a powerful tackle — over a larger area.
This equipment helps lessen the force of a blow and therefore the
potential for injury. You wear safety equipment when you in-line skate
for the same reason.
If your head weighs

about 50 N and you are
travelling at 30 km/h,
A B your head will exert
about 150 N of force in
a collision. Using mathe-
matical calculations,
show if it is better to
hit an air bag rather than
to hit the dashboard.
Assume that your face
has an area of 300 cm2.
If you do not use an air
bag, assume that the
area of your forehead
that might hit the dash-
C D board is 3 cm2.
Figure 4.30 Each of these safety objects protects people based on concepts you have learned in
this section. Describe how each item works.
Force, Pressure, and Area • MHR 305

S K I L L C H E C K

4-E
Egg Drop!
You have seen how safety equipment has been designed to spread a force over a
large area. Now, design and build your own structure that will protect a raw egg
when it is dropped.
Challenge
Design and build a structure that will protect a raw egg and prevent it from
breaking when you drop it from a height of 2 m.
Plan and Construct

With your group, predict what arrangement
of straws might protect your egg and prevent
it from breaking. Use your knowledge of
pressure, force, and area.
Build and test your design.
Clean up the equipment and your work area

after you have completed this investigation.
Evaluate
1. Use your knowledge of force, pressure,
and area to write an explanation of why
your design worked, or why it failed.
Safety Precaution 2. How could you modify and improve
your design?
Materials
50 drinking straws
scissors
Extend Your Skills
raw egg 1. How could you calculate the force exerted
masking tape by the egg on your straw structure?
metre-stick
2. Compare how your structure works to
the way a car bumper works.
Design Specifications
A. You cannot use more than 50 straws and 1 m
of masking tape.
B. Drop your egg and its protective structure For tips on conducting fair tests and experiments, turn to
Skill Focus 6.
from a height of 2 m.
C. Your structure must prevent the egg from

breaking. Scientists in the Antarctic often receive supplies by having
them dropped out of passing aircraft. One plane dropped
100 dozen individually bubble-wrapped eggs and no eggs
broke!

Pascal’s Law
Have you ever squeezed a water-filled balloon? Did you notice
how the walls of the balloon bulged out in all directions?
Squeezing a water-filled balloon demonstrates Pascal’s law.
Pascal’s law states that pressure exerted on a contained fluid
is transmitted undiminished in all directions throughout the fluid
and perpendicular to the walls of the container. French physician
and scientist Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) first observed that the
shape of a container has no effect on the pressure at any given
depth (see Figure 4.31).
Many mechanical systems use Pascal’s law. Figure 4.32 shows one Figure 4.31 Pascal’s vases
show that a container’s
such system: the hydraulic lift. A hydraulic lift is a mechanical system shape has no effect on
that raises heavy objects, such as a vehicle on a service station lift. A pressure.
hydraulic lift uses a fluid under pressure in a closed system. A
closed system is a self-contained collection of parts. Your body’s
circulatory system is an example of a closed hydraulic system. Your
heart pumps blood to all the cells of the body and back to the heart
through a continuous network of blood vessels that are directly
connected to one another.
As the illustration in Figure 4.32A shows, a hydraulic lift consists of a
small cylinder and a large cylinder. The cylinders are connected by a
pipe. Each cylinder is filled with a hydraulic fluid, usually oil. (Water is
not used in a hydraulic lift for two reasons — it is not a good lubricant,
Every time you
and it can cause parts of a system to rust.) Note that each cylinder also
squeeze out some
has a type of platform, or piston, that rests on the surface of the oil. toothpaste, you are
Figure 4.32B shows a forklift that uses hydraulic pressure. applying Pascal’s law!
You can squeeze any-
F1 F2 where on the tube and
get the same result.
Figure 4.32A In this hydraulic lift, pressure Figure 4.32B Powered hydraulically, this
applied to a small piston is transmitted to a forklift can move very large containers.
large piston by means of a hydraulic fluid.

Suppose you apply 500 N of force to the small piston with an area of
5cm2. The pressure on the small piston is expressed in the following
equation. Recall that pressure (p) is force (F ) divided by the area (A)
over which the force is acting.
p= F
A
= 500 N
5 cm2
= 100 N/cm2
Pascal’s law states that this pressure is transmitted unchanged
throughout the liquid. Therefore, the large piston will also have a
pressure of 100 N/cm2 applied to it. However, the total area of the
large piston is greater than the area of the small piston. The large
piston’s area is 50 cm2. Thus, the total force on the large piston is
100 N/cm2 × 50 cm2 = 5000 N. This is ten times the force applied to
the small piston. Using this hydraulic machine, you could use your
own weight to lift something ten times as heavy as you are!
In Unit 2, you learned that the pascal (Pa) is the standard unit of
pressure. One pascal of pressure is a force of one newton per square
metre. This is a small pressure unit, so most pressures are given in
kilopascals (kPa).
To sum up, a hydraulic lift uses a liquid to produce a large force on a
load when a small effort force is exerted on the liquid. Because a small
effort force produces a large force on a load, a hydraulic lift provides a
mechanical advantage.
Pascal’s Law and Mechanical Advantage

Study Figure 4.33. Note that the area of the small piston of the
hydraulic lift is 1 unit. If you push down on the piston with a force of
10 N, you will generate a pressure in the fluid by 10 N per unit of area.
Now examine the area of the large piston. There are nine squares.
Each square has the same area as the small piston. According to Pascal’s
law, the pressure on every unit of area on that piston will be 10 N.
Since there are 9 units of area, the total force on the large piston will be:
10 N × 9 unit areas = 90 N
unit area
small force
applied here
large force
transmitted here
Figure 4.33 This simplified
diagram of a hydraulic lift
shows how a small effort
force can produce a large
force on a load.

By exerting 10 N of effort force, you could cause the large piston to
exert 90 N of force on a load. Thus, the hydraulic lift provides a
mechanical advantage. As you learned in Topic 1, mechanical advantage
When you squeeze
is the load divided by the effort force:
mustard out of a plastic
MA = Load force container, the mustard
Effort force
comes out of a small
= 90 N opening, but spreads
10 N
out over a larger area so
=9 that it coats a hamburger.
Explain why this happens
This hydraulic lift has a mechanical advantage of 9. However,
using your understanding
remember that you would have to push the piston nine times farther
of Pascal’s law. Write
than the distance you could lift the load. You would have to increase your explanation in your
the effort distance because the work done on the small piston must be Science Log.
at least as great as the work done on the load. (Recall that work equals
force multiplied by distance.)
For example, suppose you wanted to lift a 90 N load a distance of
2 m using the hydraulic lift in Figure 4.33. Approximately how far
would you have to push the piston as you exert your effort force? You
could find out by doing the following calculations (note the formula
for work):
W =F•d
W (effort) = 10 N • d (effort)
W (load) = 90 N • 2 m
W (effort) = W (load)
Therefore,
10 N • d (effort) = 180 J
180 J
d (effort) =
10 N
= 18 m
To lift a 90 N load a distance of 2 m using the hydraulic lift, you
would have to push the piston 18 m. This effort distance is nine times
the load distance.
Figure 4.34 This “cherry

picker” uses hydraulic
pistons combined with
levers to move the “bucket”
over large distances.
Examine the picture and see
if you can explain how this
is possible.

S K I L L C H E C K

4-F
What a Lift!
small piston large piston
mass: 40 kg mass: 1200 kg
area of small area of large

piston: 0.5 m2 piston: ?
Think About It
In a hydraulic lift, how large a piston would you Study the diagram, then calculate the area
need to lift a minivan? Imagine you are standing of the large piston. (Hint: Remember that the
on one piston of a hydraulic lift and a minivan is ratio of the two masses is the same as the ratio
on the other piston. The area of your piston is of the two areas of the pistons.)
0.5 m2. Suppose you have a mass of 40 kg and the
minivan has a mass of 1200 kg. How large must Analyze
the other piston be to lift the minivan?
1. What result did you get when you calculat-
Recall that mass is measured in grams (g)
ed the area of the piston supporting the
and kilograms (kg). Weight, which is a force, is
minivan? How close was your estimate to
measured in newtons (N). A kilogram of mass on
this result?
Earth’s surface weighs 10 N.
2. Do you think that this design for a
What to Do hydraulic lift is practical? Explain
Estimate the size of the large piston in the your answer.
hydraulic lift. Think of an area that is about
the same size as the large piston. What is the
area of your kitchen table? Of your bedroom
floor? Of your living room? Of your
classroom? Which area do you estimate is
closest to the area of the large piston in the
hydraulic lift? To review estimating, turn to Skill Focus 5.

S K I L L C H E C K

4-G
Build Your Own Design Specifications

Hydraulic Lift A. Your model hydraulic lift must exert a force
in one place when you exert a force in a
Now that you understand how a hydraulic lift different place.
operates, design and build your own working
model of one. Use your knowledge of Pascal’s B. There must be no air bubbles in the tubing
law and mechanical advantage to help you with and in the syringes.
your design. C. Your model hydraulic lift must provide an
observable mechanical advantage.
Challenge
Design and build a model of a hydraulic lift that Plan and Construct
will exert a large force on a load when you exert With your group, predict what arrangement
a small force on the lift. might allow you to balance the 250 g and 1 kg
masses on the two modified syringes. Test
Safety Precautions
your prediction. CAUTION Place the masses
carefully on the wood platform each time, so
that they do not fall off the work surface onto
Materials your foot. Also, the glue gun is hot and the
10 mL modified syringe variety of smaller masses
glue remains hot for several minutes.
50 mL modified syringe 2 wood squares
(the plungers of both (5 cm x 5 cm)
syringes must slide freely) Predict what arrangement might allow you to
2 support stands
narrow plastic tubing raise the 1 kg mass using the least amount of
4 stopcocks or clamps
1 kg mass force. Test this prediction as well.
glue gun
250 g mass water Wipe up any spilled water after this
investigation.
Evaluate
1. Did your model hydraulic lift produce a
mechanical advantage? How could you tell?
2. Suppose you need to raise a 1 kg mass

using an even smaller force. How could
you modify your model hydraulic lift to
achieve this?
Extend Your Skills

1. How could you calculate the work done
by your effort force?
2. How could you find out the pressure exert-

ed by the water in the modified syringes?

TOPIC 4 Review
1. Explain the difference between force and pressure.
2. Pressure is measured in pascals (Pa). What combination of units is the

same as a pascal?
3. When you exert force on a fluid in a closed container, does the pressure
increase, decrease, or remain constant?
4. State Pascal’s law.
5. In a drawing, show how to set up a model hydraulic system with a

mechanical advantage of 4.
6. Explain how a thumbtack is designed so that you do not have to use a

lot of force to push it through paper or the surface of a bulletin board.
7. Design Your Own You have been given the task of testing the effective-
ness of a new style of football helmet. What characteristics might affect
the strength of the helmet? Make a hypothesis related to one of these
characteristics and design an experiment to test your hypothesis. Identify
which variable(s) will change for your experiment, and which will remain
constant. List criteria for assessing your solution.

T O P I C 5 Hydraulics and Pneumatics
When you squeeze a water bottle, you apply a force that pushes water
out of the bottle. There is air and water in a water bottle and when you
squeeze it, hydraulic and pneumatic systems are at work.
Hydraulic systems use the force of a liquid in a confined space,
such as an oil pipeline. Hydraulic systems apply two essential character-
istics of fluids — their incompressibility and their ability to transmit
pressure. The hydraulic lift you built in Topic 4 is an example of
hydraulic systems.
Pneumatic systems do not seal the gas — usually air — in a Ask an Expert
mechanical system in the same way that hydraulic machines seal in
To meet firefighter
hydraulic fluid. Usually the air passes through the pneumatic device
Randy Segboer, who
under high pressure and then escapes outside the device. The high- uses hydraulics and
pressure air may come from a machine that draws in outside air and pneumatics at work,
compresses it. Hoses then carry the high-pressure air to the pneumatic turn to page 352.
device. Do the gases in pneumatic systems and the liquids in hydraulic
systems behave differently when you exert pressure on them? Find out
in the next investigation.
Figure 4.35 Firefighters are using the hydraulically powered

Jaws of Life to rescue an accident victim from a crushed car.
Above the photo are three types of tools used in the Jaws of
Life (from left to right): spreaders, rams, and cutters.
Figure 4.36 Inflatable walkways are examples of
pneumatic systems. Inflatable walkways help workers
reach accident victims and carry them to safety.
Hydraulics and Pneumatics • MHR 313

S K I L L C H E C K

4-H
Comparing Pressure Exerted

on a Gas and on a Liquid
You know that some mechanical devices use pneumatic systems and others
use hydraulic systems. How do engineers decide which system to use?
Question
What happens when you exert the same amount of pressure on a gas and
on a liquid?
Prediction
Will the results be the same or different if you exert the same amount of pressure
on a gas and on a liquid? Make a prediction and test it in this investigation.
Safety Precautions
Apparatus
2 modified syringes (the plungers of
both syringes must slide freely)
Procedure
2 wood squares (5 cm x 5 cm) Note: Your teacher will glue the wood squares to the plungers
2 masses (500 g each) ahead of time so the glue will have time to dry.
stopcocks
plastic dishpan
stopwatch or watch with a
second hand
support stand
felt tip pen
glue gun
Materials
water
Fill one syringe with water. Close the stopcock.

Turn it upside down over
the dishpan and press the
plunger until all of the air
is gone.

Assemble the apparatus Place a 500 g mass on top Before you open the stop-
as shown. Leave air in the of each syringe. Observe cocks, make a prediction.
second syringe. Adjust the the new positions of the Will the time it takes for
plunger so that it is at the plungers. CAUTION Place each of the plungers to reach
same position as the plunger the masses carefully on the the bottom of the syringes
in the water-filled syringe. wood platforms so that they be the same or different?
(a) Close the stopcock, do not fall off the work Open the stopcocks one at a
making sure that all the surface onto your foot. time and record the time it
connections are airtight. takes for each of the
plungers to reach the
(b) Wipe up any spilled
bottom of the syringe. Wipe
water.
up any spilled water after
this investigation.
Analyze
1. What happened when you put the mass on top of the
water-filled syringe?
2. Was the result the same or different when you put the mass
on the air-filled syringe?
3. Did one modified syringe empty faster than the other when
you opened the stopcock? If so, which one emptied faster?
Observe the positions of 4. What were the manipulated and responding variables in this
the two plungers. Mark the investigation? Which variables were controlled?
positions of the plungers
with a felt tip pen. Conclude and Apply
5. What property of liquids did you demonstrate in this
investigation? What property of gases did you demonstrate?
Use the term “viscosity,” which you learned in Unit 2, to
explain your observation in question 3.
6. Write a statement that summarizes and compares how gases

and liquids respond to pressure.

Pneumatics at Work
Using air pressure of Pneumatic devices are used all around us. A common example is the
about 620 000 Pa, more jackhammer (see Figures 4.37 and 4.38). You have probably heard the
than 5.5 m3 of air flow extremely loud noise of a jackhammer breaking up concrete when a
through a jackhammer sidewalk or a road is being repaired. Jackhammers are also used in the
every minute. mining of coal, nickel, and gold. Bursts of air, under very high pressure,
drive a part called a “chuck” in and out of the jackhammer at high
speeds. Resembling a very large screwdriver, the chuck pounds the
rocks or concrete into fragments.
In a dictionary, look up control

the origin of the word lever
“pneumonia.” air inlet
diaphragm
valve
piston
air
outlet
cylinder
anvil
chuck
Figure 4.37 Cross section of a jackhammer Figure 4.38 Every time you hear the ear-
splitting sound produced by a jackhammer,
you are hearing compressed air at work.
Dentist's Drill
The high-speed drill that dentists currently use is a pneumatic turbine

instrument that relies on pressurized air. The cutaway diagram blades
air outlet
on the right shows how a dentist’s drill works. This technology
has led to almost pain-free dentistry. air inlet
What does the future hold? A newly invented machine that drills drill
teeth with a high-powered jet of water will make life easier for shaft
dentists — and for patients. The device, called the Millennium,
works by pumping a jet of water at the teeth. The droplets of water
drill
bit
are split by a laser into tiny particles. As these hit the enamel, they
exert enough force to grind the tooth. This technology means there
is no noise from a drill and no heat.

Figure 4.39 Air pressure makes this Figure 4.40A Before sandblasting Figure 4.40B After sandblasting
staple gun work.
Staple guns and pneumatic nailers use pulses of air pressure to drive
staples or nails into solid objects. Staple guns are used in making
furniture, woodworking, upholstering, and many other applications.
Pneumatic nailers can even nail wood to concrete. A staple gun is
shown in Figure 4.39.
Sandblasters do exactly what the name implies. High-pressure air
blasts tiny sand particles out of a nozzle. Sandblasting is an excellent
way to remove dirt and paint from stone or brick. Old, dirty buildings
or statues can be made to look new, as shown in Figures 4.40A and B.
Can you imagine sanding a large stone building with sandpaper?
Besides improving appearances, sandblasting is also used for practical
applications. For example, slippery granite or marble stairs can be made
safer by being sandblasted. Sandblasting roughens the edges of the
stairs to increase friction. The friction, in turn, prevents people from
slipping on a step.
www.school.mcgrawhill.ca/resources/
Continue to search the Internet for information about
mechanical systems, but start adding pneumatic devices to your
list. Visit the above web site. Go to Science Resources, then to
SCIENCEFOCUS 8 to find out where to go next. Each class member can
look for at least one type of pneumatic equipment (other than the
ones presented in this textbook) and present an oral or
written report to the class. See what unusual
devices you can find!
Figure 4.41 This “air
cast” is used for both
sprains and fractures.
The photograph above shows another application of pneumatics.
Medical engineers have developed a type of cast filled with pressurized
air. A solid frame with a balloonlike lining is fitted to the injured leg.
In your Science Log,
High-pressure air is pumped into the lining through a hose. Because
describe how some
the air pressure can be controlled precisely, the cast can be made to fit modern sports shoes are
snugly and securely. similar to an air cast.

Riding on Air
Figure 4.42 shows a Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft used primarily
for rescue operations. Hovercraft also transport people, cars, and
equipment long distances over land or water.
Figure 4.42 Hovercraft are used not only for rescue operations but also for routine travel.
In a hovercraft, powerful pumps draw in outside air and pump it out

through holes in the bottom of the hovercraft (see Figure 4.43). A
“skirt” around the bottom holds in enough air to support the weight of
the craft above water or land. Given enough air pressure, a hovercraft
can support extremely heavy loads. Propellers drive the hovercraft for-
ward, and rudders are used to steer it.
propeller
lift fan (sucks air into

the hovercraft)
air under pressure
“skirt”
cushion of air
water or ground
Figure 4.43 A hovercraft rides on a cushion of air.

Find Out
Build a Model Hovercraft
See if you can send a miniature hovercraft 5. Using a pencil, punch a hole in the middle
skimming across a table. of the paper circle to line up with the hole
of the spool.
Safety Precautions
6. Blow up the balloon and twist the neck.
Stretch the mouth of the balloon over the
Materials top of the spool. Let the balloon go and
cardboard pencil give your hovercraft a nudge.
empty thread spool glue gun What Did You Find Out? Analyzing and Interpretin
paper balloon
What are some ways that you could change
scissors
your hovercraft design to make it go farther?
1. Cut out a 10 cm square from the card-

board and use a pencil to punch a hole in
the centre of the square. The hole should
be the same size as the hole in the empty
thread spool. CAUTION Be careful when
using sharp objects such as scissors and
when punching the cardboard with a
pencil. Also, the glue gun is hot and the
glue remains hot for several minutes.
2. Glue the empty spool on top of the hole in

the cardboard so that the holes line up.
3. Using the glue gun, seal the base of the

thread spool so that no air can escape.
4. Cut out a circle of paper and glue it onto

the top of the thread spool.
There are many types of hovercrafts, or air-cushion vehicles. These For tips on creating
machines are used for many different purposes. Create a database with infor- a database, turn to
mation about at least three different hovercrafts. Include data on how large they are, Skill Focus 9.
how much weight they can carry, where they are designed to run, and how fast they can
go. As well, include information about any special features each hovercraft may have.
What features do all of these hovercrafts have in common? What features are different?
Do different types of hovercrafts have different overall designs? Visit the above
web site and go to Science Resources. Then go to SCIENCEFOCUS 8
to find out where to go next.

Hydraulics at Work
Have you ever seen a bulldozer clearing an area to build new homes?
You may have seen a backhoe digging a trench for a new water line or a
sewer pipe. Have you ever watched a “cherry picker” in action? Perhaps
you’ve seen a farmer driving a tractor in a field. In all these cases, you
were watching hydraulic equipment at work.
Figure 4.44A This student is training Figure 4.44B Why do you think Figure 4.44C This backhoe is digging up
to become a heavy equipment operator. this farm equipment is called a a lawn to install a gas pipe. (To see a
Here, she is learning how to operate an “bi-directional tractor”? diagram showing how a backhoe works,
earth mover. turn to page 327.)
Unlike the simple hydraulic systems you have explored so far, the
For tips on doing huge machines shown in Figure 4.44 A, B, and C are not operated by
Internet research, turn plungers that workers push manually! Instead, the machines contain
to Skill Focus 9. tanks filled with hydraulic fluid and pumps that generate pressure. In
most hydraulic equipment, the energy for pumping is supplied by a
gasoline engine or by an electric motor. Valves direct the high-pressure
fluid through steel pipes to the parts of the machine where the pressure
of the fluid is needed to generate large forces to lift or to dig. Often the
steering and braking systems in large machines are powered by the
high-pressure hydraulic fluid as well.
As a class project, start an Internet search for as many types of
hydraulic equipment as you can find. Visit the above web site. Go to Science
Resources, then to SCIENCEFOCUS 8 to find out where to go next. Decide how you
want to keep track of all the machines and instruments that you find. You could
create a bulletin board display, a poster, or a trade magazine entitled
Popular Hydraulics. (Use a library if you do not have
access to the Internet.)

Hydraulics in Flight
When an airplane such as the one shown in Figure 4.45A taxis along a
runway, the pilot steers the plane using the nose wheel. During takeoff,
the pilot may lower the flaps. To make a turn while airborne, the pilot
moves the ailerons up or down and adjusts the rudder. To keep the
plane level, the pilot adjusts the elevators. Landing a plane is a multi-
system process. The pilot uses hydraulics to lower the flaps and slats to
slow the aircraft during the approach before landing. The pilot then
uses hydraulics to raise the spoilers when the aircraft touches down.
The spoilers prevent the wing from lifting the aircraft again.
flaps
spoilers
aileron
airplane wing slats
Figure 4.45A The various parts of an airplane wing are raised and lowered
hydraulically when the pilot lands the plane.
rudder Figure 4.46 These aircraft

elevator have three separate
elevator hydraulic systems, as
well as an emergency
backup system.
airplane tail
Figure 4.45B Hydraulics are responsible for tail adjustments that enable the pilot to turn the
plane while airborne.
Every mechanical system mentioned in the paragraph above is powered

by hydraulics (see Figures 4.45A and B). The precise designs of the
hydraulic systems are different for different models of aircraft, but the
basic principles are the same.
Each airplane in Figure 4.46 is an Airbus A340. The Airbus A340 has
three separate hydraulic systems: the green system, the blue system,
and the yellow system. If one system malfunctions, there are one or
two other systems to back it up. For example, the green and yellow
systems both control the flaps. The green and blue systems control the
slats. All three systems control the ailerons.

The green system relies on fluid pressure generated by engines 1 and 4.
The blue system relies on fluid pressure generated by engine 2, and the
yellow system relies on pressure from engine 3. If an engine fails, addi-
tional backup motors provide pressure for the hydraulic systems. What
happens if all the systems fail? Could the pilot still control the guidance
systems? The answer is yes. An emergency air-driven generator drops
out from a door in the bottom of the plane. As shown in Figure 4.47,
this generator resembles a fan. It has a propeller that spins when out-
side air strikes it. Since jets travel at tremendous speeds, the air turns
the propeller extremely rapidly. This rapid turning motion generates
alternative power to supply the hydraulic systems.
air-driven
generator door air-driven
generator
deployed
Figure 4.47 If hydraulic pressure in an Airbus A340 fails, an air-

driven generator drops down from a door in the bottom of the
plane. The air rushing past turns the blades of the generator, propeller
which produces both electricity and fluid pressure. blades
Heavy-Duty Work Locate someone in your community who works as a heavy

Merritt Shilling is a heavy equipment operator. He knows equipment operator, or contact a spokesperson for your
how to operate everything from a huge excavator to a small province’s workers’ compensation board (check the provin-
bulldozer safely and efficiently. These specialized vehicles cial government pages in the telephone book). Ask about the
often have a separate control for each hand and as many as safety issues related to this type of work. What safety gear
three foot pedals. Learning how to control several mechanical must be worn on the job? For example, is ear protection
systems at once takes special training. Merritt got his training necessary? What are the most common risk situations that
on the job and temporarily moved to a larger community for could arise, and how can these risks be reduced? How can
the experience he wanted. His career path looks something an operator prevent accidents from occurring? Present
like this: answers to these or other questions in a brief oral or
written in-class report.
• completed high school
• cleared snow using a truck with an attached plow
• worked for a landscaper driving tractors and bulldozers
• worked for a large metal company driving huge forklifts
and other equipment
• returned to his Native community and now works for local
contractors driving whatever equipment each job requires
To become a heavy equipment operator, you could attend a
privately run heavy equipment school. You could also
complete a college course in truck driving or in heavy
equipment mechanics, or work with an experienced operator
as an apprentice.

Hydraulics and Pneumatics in Your Body
Did you know that your life depends on a pneumatic system? The
respiratory system in your body is more complex than any pneumatic
machinery. As you learned in Unit 1, this system is made up of lungs; If you lived for 85
tubes that allow air to enter and leave the lungs; and muscles that cause years and breathed
your lungs to expand and contract. Breathing depends on changes in air normally, how much
air would you breathe
pressure. When you are breathing normally, your muscles make your
in and out of
lungs expand and draw in about 500 mL of air. Simply relaxing will your lungs?
push the air back out. You breathe in and out about 12 times per
minute. When you are active, like the girls in Figure 4.48, you breathe
more quickly and more deeply.
Your body also depends on a complex hydraulic system. In Unit 1,
you learned that blood must be kept under pressure so that it can be
pumped to all parts of your body. Your heart is the pump that moves
blood through the blood vessels with pressure that rises and falls. Like If the blood vessels in
the rhythmic squeezing of the water bottle, each time your heart beats, your body were con-
it exerts a force on your blood and pushes it along. In Unit 2, you nected end to end, they
learned that blood pressure is exerted by blood against the inner walls would extend almost
of arteries and, to a lesser extent, capillaries. 100 000 km. That is two
Your heart is an amazing hydraulic device. Over the course of a and a half times around
the planet Earth!
lifetime, it can pump nearly 4 billion times without stopping, and it can
circulate a total of nearly 500 million litres of fluid. Throughout your
lifetime, your heart will pump enough blood to fill 13 supertankers,
each holding one million barrels!
When blood leaves the left ventricle, it travels first through arteries,
then capillaries, and finally veins, before it returns to your heart.
Figure 4.49 shows how the arteries become smaller and smaller until
they are tiny, thin-walled capillaries through which oxygen and waste
products pass easily.
artery
capillaries
Figure 4.49 The aorta, the largest

artery, branches into smaller and
smaller arteries that lead to
capillaries, which are tiny vessels
vein that carry blood to every part of
the body.
The diameter of the largest blood vessel in your body is just under Figure 4.48 During
2 cm. The smallest vessels, the capillaries, are less than 0.0001 cm in strenuous activity, your
diameter. It takes a great deal of pressure to push a fluid through tubes breathing quickens
and deepens.
with small diameters, such as capillaries.

Valves and Pumps
Recall that pressure is transmitted equally throughout a fluid. What
happens when the pressure is reduced in one area? If you are holding
an inflated balloon closed, the pressure inside is equal throughout the
balloon. When you release your fingers, the pressure in the neck of the
balloon is reduced and the fluid (air) comes rushing out.
Something similar happens when you turn on a tap. The pressure on
one side of the tap is greater than the pressure on the other side. The
fluid (water) moves from the side of high pressure to the side of low
pressure.
In both of these situations a valve is used to control the fluid. A valve
is a movable part that controls the flow of a fluid by opening or closing.
Your fingers are the valve when you hold the balloon closed. The tap is
the valve in the water pipe. These are both manually operated valves.
In other situations, valves can be made to operate automatically using
the pressure that the valve is controlling. Many pumps use automatic
valves controlled by pressure to move fluids in a specific direction. The
valve is pushed open by pressure on one side and will close if the pres-
sure becomes greater on the other side of the valve. Did you know you
have valves in the large veins in your body that operate in this way?
toward heart
valve open;
blood passes
through
valve closed;
keeps blood
from flowing
back
vein
skeletal skeletal
muscle contracts, muscle
squeezing vein relaxes
Figure 4.50 When muscles surrounding veins contract, they squeeze the veins.
This forces the blood within the veins to move forward under pressure.

Your heart is actually two pumps, which circulate your blood
throughout the arteries and capillaries in your body. The heart uses
An average human heart
four automatic valves to circulate the blood. Blood pressure increases beats about 72 times each
and decreases between heartbeats. Immediately after the heart minute. If you live to be
contracts, a surge of blood causes high pressure in the arteries. Then, 85 years old, how many
before the next heartbeat, the pressure falls, only to increase again at times would your heart
the next contraction. beat in your lifetime?
to body
left atrium
valves between
the atria and
ventricles close
right
atrium valves between
right the atria and
ventricle ventricles open
A left ventricle B
ventricle walls contract ventricle walls relax
Figure 4.51 The heart uses four automatic valves to circulate the blood. A. When the ventricles
contract, the valves to the arteries are opened, and the valves between the atria and the
ventricles are closed. This forces blood into the arteries. B. When the ventricles relax and the
atria contract, the valves to the arteries are closed, and the valves between the atria and the
ventricles are opened.
TOPIC 5 Review
For tips on using
1. Contrast the responses of gases and liquids to pressure. models in science, turn
to Skill Focus 12.
2. List four instruments or machines that use hydraulics.
3. Describe one important difference between the use of gases in pneumatic

systems and the use of liquids in hydraulic systems.
4. Give four examples of pneumatic devices.
5. Use sketches and labels to show (a) how a hovercraft uses pneumatic
systems, and (b) how an airplane uses hydraulic systems.
6. Apply Rescue workers often use inflatable airbags to free people

trapped under heavy objects. Use simple, readily available materials to
design a model that shows how an inflatable airbag could be used to lift
a heavy object.

T O P I C 6 Combining Systems
When you look under the hood of a car, such as the one shown in
Figure 4.52A, do you say to yourself, “Now there is a simple machine!”?
Most likely, you would not. What is a simple machine? A single lever, a
Flip through some old pulley, or a wheel and axle is a simple machine. However, when you put
magazines or catalogues
simple machines together, you do not call them simple. Most modern
and find two machines
that use three or more
machines are combinations of dozens or even hundreds of simple
subsystems. Cut out the machines working together to carry out a precise function. When a
pictures and paste them simple machine is part of a large system, we call it a subsystem. When
in your Science Log. you look at a large machine, it is often hard to see, or even imagine,
Label the various how all of the subsystems work. However, when you concentrate only
subsystems. on a small part of the whole system, the workings of the machine
become clearer. The braking system in a car is a good example of a
system that you can analyze easily.
The braking system shown in Figure 4.52B is known as “disc
brakes.” The brake pedal subsystem is a Class 2 lever. The force of the
driver’s foot on the brake pedal is the effort force. The load is the force
on a piston that applies pressure on the brake fluid in the master cylin-
der. As the driver pushes down harder on the brake pedal, the effort
force increases the pressure transmitted in the brake fluid. From the
master cylinder, brake fluid flows through tubes that branch out to
every wheel. The illustration shows the final action at each wheel.
The brake fluid exerts pressure on brake pads that press on a disc. The
friction between the brake pads and the disc slows and eventually stops
the car.
piston
brake fluid
master cylinder
wheel cylinder
piston
brake pad
brake pedal
disc (attached to wheel)
Figure 4.52A How many different simple machines can you Figure 4.52B The pressure of the driver’s foot on a brake pedal
see under this hood? How many more simple machines are in is transmitted by fluid pressure to the wheels of the car.
other parts of the car? Would you say there are hundreds of
simple machines making up this car?

Figure 4.53 shows another example of a highly efficient combination of Looking Ahead
levers and hydraulics, the backhoe. Also known as an excavator, a back-
hoe is a rotating combination of three levers. These three levers are Hang on to the maga-
called the boom, the dipper, and the bucket. As the diagram shows, this zines and catalogues
you looked through for
rotating assembly of levers is mounted on caterpillar tracks. The
the Pause & Reflect on
assembly swings around on a gear-like part called a slew ring. Powered page 326. Look for pic-
by hydraulics, the three levers combine to place the bucket in any posi- tures of a tool you
tion. The boom is a Class 3 lever that raises or lowers the dipper. The might want to adapt for
dipper is a Class 1 lever that moves the bucket in and out. The bucket the Project, “Adapting
itself is a Class 1 lever that tilts to dig a hole and then empty its load of Tools” on page 354.
dirt or other material.
dipper
boom
slew ring
bucket
caterpillar tracks
Figure 4.53B Can you see

two hydraulic devices on
this backhoe?
Figure 4.53A A backhoe is a rotating assembly of three levers combined with a hydraulic system.
Search the Internet for machines that combine two or more sub-
systems. Visit the above web site, and go to Science Resources. Then go
to SCIENCEFOCUS 8 to find out where to go next. What machine combines a
wheel and axle with a hydraulic system? Some pneumatic systems work
in combination with levers. See how many combined
subsystems you can find.
Combining Systems • MHR 327

4-I
How Silly Can It Be?
Think About It
Are machines always practical? Sometimes has at least four distinct steps, and try to use as
mechanical systems are designed just for the fun many different types of machines — levers,
of it. In the twentieth century, the cartoonist winches, pulleys, ramps, wheels and axles,
Rube Goldberg drew many pictures of ridiculously pneumatic or hydraulic systems — as you can.
elaborate machines for doing everyday tasks, often
with unexpected parts like old boots or broom-
sticks. His cartoons became so popular that Analyze
“overdesigned” and accident-prone machines in 1. List the different kinds of machines in your
real life are still called “Rube Goldberg™ devices.” device, in order of use.
Look at the Rube Goldberg™-type device in
this picture. Could a machine like this work if 2. Describe in writing how your device
you built it? works, step by step.
3. Exchange your written description with a

What to Do partner, and see if your partner can follow
Try to figure out, step by step, how the device the operation of your device.
in the picture works. Which step do you think
4. Apply After receiving your teacher’s
is the most likely not to work?
approval, try to build a simple version
Now design your own Rube Goldberg™-type of your device, and see if you can get it
device on paper. It might open a door when to work.
someone rings the bell, stir a cooking pot,
dress someone in a hat and scarf, or even do
several tasks at once. Make sure your design

S K I L L C H E C K

4-J
New, Improved Robots Required!

You are an engineer for a company specializing in
the research and design field of robotics. Robots
are made using a combination of simple machines.
Your company has been approached to design
new and improved robotic devices to handle
hazardous wastes.
Challenge
Use the scientific knowledge you have gained in
Topics 1– 6 to design and build a robotic arm that gears, pulleys, cranks, wheels, hydraulics,
can transport hazardous waste in containers to a and pneumatics.
loading area. G. Students may not touch the mechanism or the
load directly at any time during the pickup,
Safety Precautions
transport, and unloading.
• A glue gun is hot and the glue remains hot for
several minutes.
Plan and Construct
• Be careful when using tools such as saws and
hand drills. Plan and sketch your team’s solution on paper
before beginning construction, and show it to
Materials your teacher.
jinx wood (1 cm × 1 cm)
dowelling (3 different diameters) How will the robotic arm manoeuvre and stop?
plywood platform (12 cm × 15 cm)
How will the simulated hazardous waste be
assorted wood screws, nuts and bolts, handles, gears,
pulleys, winches, wheels, tubes, modified syringes, picked up, transported, and unloaded?
glue gun, saws, mitre box, small tools (e.g., a hand drill)
Does the mechanism balance with and
Design Specifications without the load?
A. You provide the power for the robotic arm.
Evaluate
B. Your robotic arm must be able to pick up a 1. How well did your team co-operate in
container and move it a minimum of 10 cm arriving at the best solution using the
to the drop-off location. design specifications?
C. The movement of the robotic arm described 2. How did sketches, planning, and
in A above must be completed in 1 min. experimentation lead to a successful design?
D. The robotic arm must be able to move up and 3. Did your team make efficient use of
down as well as side to side. materials and time, and follow safe, tidy
work practices?
E. The robotic arm must have an operational
jaw mechanism. 4. How well did your prototype
demonstrate good design principles?
F. Three different mechanisms must be combined
in the working prototype (model). These mech-
anisms must be chosen from the following list:
Combining Systems • MHR 329

Across Canada
“My work involves simulation, “I develop computer models to predict the motion of
modelling, and control of robotic systems in a space environment,” Dr. Sharf adds.
robotic systems for space “We develop methods to ensure more precise control and
applications, such as the manipulation of robotic arms in space,” she says, describing
Canadarm,” explains Inna the work of her research group at the Space & Subsea
Sharf, professor of mechanical Robotics Lab. The focus of this group’s research is primarily
engineering at the University of the needs of the Space Shuttle and International Space
Victoria in British Columbia. Station programs now underway. Many of Dr. Sharf’s
Inna Sharf “The conditions in space are projects have been developed co-operatively with a Canadian
very different from those on Earth. With no gravity and a aerospace company that makes advanced technology
great deal of friction in a space environment, it is important systems, including robotic machines for use in space.
to simulate the conditions of space when testing new Dr. Sharf says she enjoys “thinking about challenging
machines and specialized equipment. Anyone who is problems and generating new results.” She also enjoys
developing new space technology depends on simulation interacting with her students.
tools to test whether a particular technological device will
work effectively in space.
TOPIC 6 Review
1. Describe the subsystems in the pencil sharpener shown here.
2. Apply Explain how brakes in an automobile work. Use a diagram in

your answer.
3. Apply Design and sketch a mechanical system that uses a pulley or a

lever in combination with a hydraulic or pneumatic device. Label the
subsystems in the device.
4. Thinking Critically Formulate your own question related to how sub-

systems function in a mechanical device and explore possible answers.

Wrap-up TOPICS 4–6
Key Terms
force hydraulic lift valve
area closed system pump
pressure hydraulic systems subsystems
Pascal’s law pneumatic systems
Reviewing Key Terms

1. Which of the key terms best matches each of 4. Restate Pascal’s law in your own words. (4)
the following words or phrases?
5. When you squeeze some toothpaste onto
(a) force per unit area (4)
your toothbrush, you are applying Pascal’s
(b) change of pressure is transmitted evenly law. Give some other everyday applications
throughout a fluid (4) of Pascal’s law. (4)
(c) circulatory system (5)
6. List four parts of an airplane that are
(d) unit of pressure (4)
controlled by hydraulic systems. (5)
(e) provides a mechanical advantage (4)
(f ) brakes in a vehicle (6) 7. List two differences between hydraulic and
pneumatic systems. (5)
Understanding Key Concepts 8. Describe four machines or instruments that
2. What hydraulic pump generates the pressure use pneumatic systems. (4, 5, 6)
to force hydraulic fluid through 100 000 km
9. Explain how a hovercraft works. (5)
of tubes? (5)
10. Name several careers in which fluid pressure
3. What is the main function of your body’s
plays a role. (4, 5, 6)
pneumatic system? (5)

T O P I C 7 Machines
Throughout History
Many people feared the

first steam-powered
trains. In England in
1829, a locomotive
called the Rocket won
a race at a speed of
47 km/h — unbelievably
fast for that time! In
the nineteenth century,
some people believed
it was dangerous for
humans to travel faster
than 20 km/h.
Figure 4.54 If you had taken a trip in Canada in the 1800s and early 1900s, you might have
travelled on a steam locomotive similar to the one pictured here.
To power this train, a railway worker called a “stoker” shovelled coal

into the furnace to keep the train moving. In a locomotive, burning
coal heats water in the boiler. The water in the boiler turns to steam,
which turns the gears, which move the wheels. Without the power of
steam — the gas into which water is changed by boiling — the train
could not move. You rarely see locomotives like this anymore, except
perhaps in museums or on display. However, the motion of cars, trucks,
ocean liners, and many other vehicles is based on the same scientific
principles as the motion of a locomotive.
The invention of the steam engine in the late eighteenth century was
an important milestone in the history of science and technology. In a
steam engine, fuel such as coal or wood is burned to heat water in a
boiler outside the engine. The water changes to steam and drives the
engine. The invention of the steam engine led to many changes in
transportation technology and also in the way that we manufacture
goods. For example, people used to weave cloth on looms in their own
homes. When large, steam-powered engines became available, these
workers moved to large factories in cities.
We don’t use steam locomotives anymore, but we do use other
types of engines in our cars, planes, and trains. In the Find Out Activity
on the next page, you will look at how transportation has changed
over time in response to changes in our understanding of science
and technology.

A B C
Figure 4.55 How have modes of transportation changed as our What changes in scientific understanding, in knowledge of
understanding of science and technology have changed? What materials, and in society might have prompted these changes?
has replaced the vehicles shown here in the modern world?
Find Out
Travelling Time
How have the methods of travel changed in the mountains to hike or Went to a movie on
area where you live? How have our lives changed the subway or Flew to Vancouver for a
as means of transportation have changed? vacation. Indicate how long it took you to
get to your destination.
3. In the three boxes in the middle of your

page, describe how these activities would
have been done 100 years ago. You can
ask your grandparents or older friends and
relatives for help.
4. In the three boxes on the right side of your

page, predict how these activities will be
done 100 years from now.
Materials
large sheet of paper (poster size)
1. How did the options for transportation
coloured felt markers
affect work and recreation in the past?
Procedure Performing and Recording For example, would people have travelled
great distances for their entertainment or
1. Use a coloured marker to divide your sheet
work, or would they have worked and
of paper into nine sections (three rows and
relaxed closer to home?
three columns).
2. How does the way you get to school
2. In the first box in the left-hand column,
differ from the way your parents and
describe how you got to school today. In
grandparents got to school?
the next two boxes in this column,
describe something that you did recently 3. How do technological inventions such as
that meant that you had to use a form of the Internet affect how you might attend
transportation. For example, Drove to the school in the future?
Machines Throughout History • MHR 333

Putting Steam to Work
This hot-air balloon works using a basic scientific principle — warm air
rises. From this simple understanding, people began to develop many
mechanical devices and even experimented with flying machines.
When Thomas Savery developed the first practical steam engine in
1699, he expanded on this basic understanding. He heated water to a
very high temperature to make steam. The steam was then used to
perform tasks such as moving a piston. As you can see in Figure 4.56,
a piston is a movable disk or platform that fits inside a closed cylinder.
When this piston moves, it causes an attached rod to move. The rod,
in turn, is attached to another part of the machine such as a crankshaft
in an engine.
Why do you think the inventors of early steam engines used steam
rather than liquid water to drive their engines?
If you poured 100 mL of water at 4°C into a measuring cup, then heat-
ed the water to 100°C, the volume of water would expand to 104 mL.
An increase from 100 mL to 104 mL is quite small. What would happen
if you continued to add heat to the water until it boiled? When water
boils, it changes from a liquid to a gas.
rod
If the entire 100 mL of water boiled into steam at 100°C at atmos-
pheric pressure, it would expand to about 170 000 mL. In other words,
when you convert liquid water into a gas, the volume increases to
piston
1700 times its original volume! If you then heat the steam to 200°C,
the volume would continue to increase to more than 200 000 mL, or
cylinder 2000 times its original volume.
The expansion of a liquid to such extreme temperatures that it turns
to a gas can be used to do work and to drive machines such as the
Figure 4.56 This simple steam engine.
diagram shows how a Steam engines were not the first mechanical devices to run on steam.
piston works. Heat-operated mechanical devices have existed for a long time. About
150 B.C.E., for example, Hero of Alexandria in Egypt wrote a book
describing many mechanical devices. These devices used gears, wheels
and axles, pulleys, hydraulics, and pneumatics.
statues
One of Hero’s devices is shown here. The machine combines altar
pneumatic and hydraulic systems. In this device, the pedestal
and the altar were sealed and connected only by a tube.
Observers could not see the connecting tube, nor could they see the tubes running from
the pedestal up through the statues to the bowls they are holding. The pedestal was filled
from the back with water and then sealed as well. A fire lit on the altar heated the air
sealed inside. As the heat increased the air pressure in the altar, the air moved through
the connecting tube into the pedestal. What would this increased pressure do to the water
in the pedestal? What would happen to the fire? Imagine what it would be like to witness pedestal water air
Hero’s altar in action if you didn’t understand hydraulics and pneumatics.

Figure 4.57 This
photograph shows a
replica of a paddle-wheeled
steamboat docked
in Edmonton.
The invention of steam engines led to innovations in transportation.

At one time, steamboats were an important means of transportation in
Canada. For example, from 1836–1957, more than 3000 steamboats
travelled along the rivers and coasts of British Columbia and the
Yukon, carrying gold seekers between the two regions. Incredible as it
may seem, for a time, a fleet of steamboats supplied the Canadian West
(see Figure 4.57). These steamships became a common sight in what
many people assumed was a landlocked prairie. By 1879, seventeen
ships travelled regularly on the North Saskatchewan, the South
Saskatchewan, the Assiniboine, and the Red rivers. These steamboats
transported the materials of the fur trade, as well as pioneers and
farming equipment for the new society springing up on the Prairies.
Exactly how does steam cause a
Steam alternately moves through the dark
paddle wheel to turn? Under high then the light passageway
pressure, steam flows into the right side
of the cylinder, as shown in Figure 4.58. high-pressure exhaust
The steam expands and pushes the steam in steam
piston to the left. At the same time, an valve rod slide
exhaust valve on the left side opens to valve
allow old, cooled steam to escape. Then
piston rod
the exhaust valve switches to the right
side and steam enters the left side,
pushing the piston to the right in the
cylinder. As the process repeats itself
piston
again and again, the piston moves back
and forth. The rod of the piston is cylinder
attached to gears and levers that do
work. In a steamboat, the gears turn
a paddle wheel that pushes against the Figure 4.58 Steam under high pressure operates pistons to turn a
water and propels the boat forward. paddle wheel.

Turning Wheels
The first record in history
of a wheel turned by
steam is found in the
writings of Hero of
Alexandria. Hero
described what appeared
to be a toy. The toy had a
pot filled with water that
was closed with a lid. A
pipe ran from the lid to
the inside of a hollow
wheel. Bent pipes were
attached to the edge of
the wheel. When placed
over a fire, the water in
the pot began to boil. Figure 4.59 Steam powers huge ocean liners that can carry thousands of passengers at a time.
This cruise ship is entering Burrard Inlet in British Columbia.
Steam was driven up the
pipe into the hollow
wheel. As the steam Paddle-wheeled riverboats are rarely seen today, but steam still propels
escaped through the bent most ocean liners, such as the one shown in Figure 4.59. In these huge
pipes, the pressure of the ships, steam does not drive pistons up and down. Instead, the steam
steam caused the wheel turns large turbines. A turbine is a rotary engine used to convert the
to rotate. motion of a fluid into mechanical energy. It consists of a number of fan
blades attached to a central hub (see Figure 4.60). The blades rotate
when steam moves past them at a high speed. The spinning turbine is
attached to an axle that turns giant propellers. These propellers drive
the ocean liner through the water.
stationary blade
steam
turbine wheel
Figure 4.60 Stationary blades can

increase a turbine’s efficiency by carefully
directing the angle at which the steam hits
the spinning turbine wheel.
axle
steam in
axle
housing

Turbines turn more than toys or propellers on ships. They are used
in jet engines, and they turn shafts that operate many machines.
Turbines also provide electricity. In thermo-electric generating stations,
burning coal is used to heat water to steam. In other cases, nuclear
reactors heat the water. In still other cases, turbines are powered by
moving water to generate hydro-electric power.
Find Out
Build a Model Steam Turbine
Watch the power of steam in action! 2. Cut out the bottom of the bottle.
CAUTION Be careful when using the
Safety Precautions scissors. Cut this bottom piece into fan-
Use care when pushing the wire through the shaped blades, like a windmill, as shown.
bleach bottle.
3. Bend two pieces of coat hanger wire into
Materials
a square-shaped frame. The frame should
3.6 L plastic bleach bottle be large enough to allow the fan blades to
coat hanger wire turn within it.
scissors
4. Poke the end of each length of wire
kettle with boiling water through the bottom of the bleach bottle.
drinking straw Then insert a piece of a drinking straw over
glue gun or tape the two top ends of the wire, as shown.
Procedure Performing and Recording 5. Glue or tape the fan-blade disk to the
1. Remove the top from the bleach bottle. piece of straw (not to the wire), so the
CAUTION Make sure the bottle is
blades will not flop back and forth.
very clean. 6. Using the handle of the bleach bottle,
hold your turbine over a steaming kettle.
piece of straw glued
CAUTION Wear heat-resistant safety
to fan-blade disk
90° 90° gloves and do this only under your
teacher’s supervision to avoid a severe
burn. Alternatively, your teacher can hold
bent coat the bottle carefully over the steam.
hanger wire
1. What did you observe when you held the

bleach-bottle turbine over the steam?
2. Apply The water in the kettle was heated

by means of a coil that conducts heat.
What is the source of the heat that con-
verts water into steam to turn the turbine
in a thermo-electric generating station?
90° 90° (approximate)

Burning Inside
Think for a moment about the size and the weight of the parts of a
steam engine. A steam engine requires a furnace, coal or wood for fuel,
In your Science Log, a large boiler with a lot of water, and, finally, the actual engine and its
draw an illustrated time-
pistons. If you could eliminate the furnace and the boiler, the engine
line showing the develop-
ment of the use of fluid
would be much smaller and lighter. The desire to improve the steam
pressure, including: engine’s efficiency led to the development of the internal combustion
• an early example from
engine in Germany in 1876. The term “internal combustion” describes
ancient literature, the way the engine works. The combustion, or burning, of fuel occurs
where steam pressure internally, that is, inside the engine. No external furnace, boiler, or
was used to operate water is needed. The fuel, gasoline, is burned right inside the cylinders.
a device Internal combustion engines usually have four, six, or eight pistons
• first useful steam and cylinders. Each piston goes through the steps shown in
engine Figure 4.61, but each piston does not carry out the same step at the
• improvements in same time. The diagram follows one piston through a cycle. The entire
steam engines cycle is repeated many times each minute.
• use of steam turbines Most automobile engines have pistons that move either up and down
• first use of internal or back and forth. A part called a crankshaft changes this up-and-
combustion engines down or back-and-forth motion to rotary motion, which turns the
automobile’s wheels. The power to move the pistons comes from the
energy released by burning gasoline.
intake valve
A Intake stroke B Compression stroke

The piston moves The piston moves up.
down the cylinder cylinder The fuel-air mixture
and draws in the piston is compressed into
fuel-air mixture — a smaller space. fuel-air
fine droplets of mixture
gasoline mixed
with air.
spark plug
exhaust
valve
C Power stroke D Exhaust stroke
When the piston is almost The piston moves
at the top, a spark from up again, compressing
exhaust
the spark plug ignites the and pushing out the
gases
mixture. Hot gases expand, waste products left
forcing the piston down. crankshaft over from burning the
Energy is transferred from fuel-air mixture.
the piston to the wheels of
the automobile.
Figure 4.61 Automobiles move as a result of the transfer of thermal energy in their engines.

Taking Flight
Some of the earliest internal combustion engines
were developed for use in aircraft. Steam engines
were used in early cars, but they were too heavy
and cumbersome for aircraft. The lighter, smaller
internal combustion engine was ideal for a
machine designed to fly. Although they have been
around for more than 100 years, internal combus-
tion engines continue to be tested and improved.
Examine the two aircraft in Figures 4.62A
and B. Although they were built more than
70 years apart, they both use similar technology
and shorten the travel time and distance between
two places. The Silver Dart had a maximum speed
of about 80 km/h, while the Space Shuttle can
travel at 10 000 km/h. The Space Shuttle can
orbit at altitudes of 1500 km, while the Silver Dart
never flew above 100 m. These aircraft were both
incredible inventions when they were designed.
What do you think the aircraft of the future will
look like?
People have always needed to travel. In Figure 4.62B The Space Shuttle is a spacecraft that
ancient times, if their water supply dried up, a consists of a winged orbiter and booster rockets that
whole village would have to move to a distant propel the craft into space. About two minutes after lift
location. Today we travel for many reasons. off, the boosters use up their fuel, separate from the
spacecraft and re-enter the atmosphere, where they are
Science and technology have not changed our retrieved. After completion of the space mission, the
need to travel. They have simply provided more orbiter reduces its speed, descends through the
and faster ways to travel. atmosphere, and lands like an airplane.
Figure 4.62A The Silver Dart was the first powered

airplane flown in Canada. It was designed in 1909 by
Canadian J.A.D. McCurdy, a member of Alexander
Graham Bell’s Aerial Experiment Association. To launch
the plane, a horse-drawn sleigh pulled it over the ice of
Baddeck Bay in Cape Breton. The plane rose after being
pulled about 30 m, and flew at an elevation of 3 to 9 m
and a speed of 65 km/h for 0.8 km.
3
Industrialization and the internal combustion engine have created a threat to the
environment — smog. Use the Internet to do research on smog and the internal combus-
tion engine. How does smog affect trees and other plants? What health problems are caused
by smog? What can be done to reduce smog? Visit the above web site. Go to Science
Resources. Then go to SCIENCEFOCUS 8 to find out where to go next. (Use your
library if you do not have access to the Internet.) Work with a partner to
produce a poster about smog and how to reduce it.

Find Out
Against the Wind
How does air pressure affect flight? Try this 3. Remove the sheet of paper from the desk
activity to find out. and hold it up in front of you. Blow into the
Materials middle of the page.
sheet of paper
tape
1. Tape a sheet of paper to the top of a desk

so that the sheet hangs over the edge.
2. From across the desk, blow over the sheet

of paper. Blow gently at first. Then
increase the force of the air blowing over
the paper. Observe what happens to the 4. Observe what happens to the sheet of
sheet of paper as you blow over it. paper as you blow into the middle of it.
1. Where was the air pressure greatest in

each of these tests?
2. Which test was similar to flying a kite?

Explain your answer.
3. Which test showed how an aircraft

wing works?
Technology Timelines
This timeline shows a

few systems in which
water has been collected
throughout history. Do
some research to find
other methods that
were once used. Ideas
include aqueducts, water
towers, waterwheels,
water screw well pump faucet
and windmills.
Figure 4.63 The ways in which we collect water have changed over time. Estimate when each of
these methods came into popular use. Do research to find out how accurate your estimate is.

Humans, as well as all other forms of life, have always needed water to
survive. Technology has made it much easier for us to meet that need.
The timeline shown in Figure 4.63 shows how the technology for
collecting water has changed over time. Similar timelines can be drawn
for many of the mechanical devices we use today, from a can opener to
a computer. Draw your own timeline for a mechanical device in the
next activity.
Find Out
Time for a Change?
How did people cut wheat or drill for oil 100 You could also choose a particular task such
years ago? Choose one of these tasks, or one as washing clothes, and illustrate how this
of your own and create your own technology task has changed as science and technology
timeline. have changed. Your timeline should include
the approximate dates at which various
Materials changes occurred.
long sheets of paper
coloured felt markers
Why do you think the technology you chose
Procedure Performing and Recording changed over time? In addition to scientific
Choose a machine or mechanical system and or technological reasons, decide whether
draw a timeline showing how the machine or any changes were made for societal or
mechanical system has changed over time. environmental reasons.
TOPIC 7 Review
For tips on how to
1. Use a labelled drawing to explain how a piston in a steam engine works. design an experiment,
turn to Skill Focus 6.
2. How does a steam turbine differ from a steam engine?
3. Apply Sometimes steam engines are called “external combustion

engines.” Explain what this term means by comparing it to “internal
combustion engines.”
4. Thinking Critically People have always needed to travel. Give two or

three different reasons why.
5. Thinking Critically Explain how science and technology have changed

human travel.

T O P I C 8 People and Machines
Science and technology have given us a variety of amazing machines
that have made many of our daily tasks easier. Imagine the excitement
of seeing the first “horseless carriage,” the very first car. Not long after
its introduction a large percentage of people owned cars and were able
to travel farther and faster. Soon cars became larger and fuels became
more efficient. The automobile seemed like an ideal machine until
scientists discovered that the gasoline additive, lead tetraethyl, was
polluting the atmosphere. The lead helped the gasoline to burn more
efficiently but it caused health problems. The search was on for other
ways to make gasoline burn efficiently. In Canada today, all vehicles use
lead-free gasoline. However, other gasoline products pollute the air.
Automobile emissions are just one of many problems that our
advanced machines bring with them. As you read this Topic, think
about how the development of machines throughout history has
brought pleasure and comfort to societies. Think also of the negative
side. What kinds of problems and challenges do these technologies
bring as well? How are we trying to meet these challenges? What
types of choices must we make? What do we need to learn from past
experience in order to make the future better?
Figure 4.64A The chemical Freon 12 was Figure 4.64B As cities grew larger and more people moved to suburbs far from
once the most common coolant used in their workplace, mass-transit systems such as this “Sky Train” were developed.
refrigerators and car air conditioners.
However, scientists discovered that Freon 12
contributed to the gases destroying Earth’s
ozone layer. Now, alternative coolants are
used in refrigerators and air conditioners.
In your Science Log, list and describe two other machines or mechanical
systems that you think have changed as a result of changes in society or
the environment.

The Industrial Revolution
The invention of the steam engine transformed society. No one can say
for certain when the Industrial Revolution began. Simple machinery
had been taking the place of hand labour since 1700. The water-driven Imagine that you are liv-
ing in England in the late
spinning machine introduced in 1769, for example, could do the work
1700s. Your family once
of twelve workers. A combination of events in the late 1700s, however, spun and wove cloth in
transformed England and the world. First came James Watt’s invention their home in a small
of an efficient steam engine in 1769 (see Figure 4.65A). A year later, rural village. Now you
Henry Cort developed a method of making iron using coal for fuel cannot sell your cloth
instead of wood. The iron to build machines and the engines to drive because it is being made
them led to the rapid development of mass-production industry. less expensively in large
factories in the city. You
(Mass production is the manufacturing of large quantities of a stan-
and your parents must
dardized item by standardized mechanical processes. Modern examples go to the city to work in
include the manufacture of home appliances in a factory, the canning of these factories. Write a
foods in a food-processing plant, and the production of automobiles in paragraph or draw a
an assembly plant.) picture in your Science
Within a few years, small towns such as Manchester and Log. Explain or show the
ways in which you think
Birmingham in England became industrialized cities teeming with
the introduction of a new
factories (see Figure 4.65B). Industrialization led to great social change. technology (the steam
Unable to compete with the new factories, the spinners, weavers, and engine) and its use in
craftspeople from the villages flocked to the cities to find work. The factories might change
transformation from a rural to an urban society had begun. the society and the
environment around you.
Figure 4.65A The plans for James Watt’s steam engine. Watt’s Figure 4.65B In the late eighteenth and early
invention was one of the technological advances that gave rise nineteenth centuries, factories were built in Europe
to the Industrial Revolution in England. to mass-produce goods, and people moved from
farms to cities to find work. Children as well as
adults worked long, hard hours in these factories.
People and Machines • MHR 343

Which Came First?
The question of whether the needs or
wants of society results in new tech-
nology, or whether new technology
changes society, continues to chal-
lenge us. It is sometimes said, for
example, that the oil industry is so
large because of the demand for fuel
to run automobiles. However, some
people also say that the reason we
have so many cars and use them so
often is because of the low price and
abundance of gasoline. We can build
Figure 4.66 Do you think
we would have such large,
large cities because it is possible to get around in them so easily using
sprawling cities surrounded automobiles. Even in our largest cities, people travel from one end to
by suburbs if we did not the other to get to work and back home again. One hundred years ago
use our automobiles it would have taken half a day to make the trip one way. Do you think
so much?
cities are so large because we have vehicles, or do you think we have
vehicles because our cities are so large?
A B
B
C
Figure 4.67 These cars were built before there was concern over the effect of air pollution from
vehicle exhaust.
All the vehicles in Figure 4.67 were popular at a time when people
thought fuel was unlimited and that the atmosphere could absorb all
of the pollutants entering it from industry and car exhausts. In the
1970s, scientists began to inform people about a shortage of fuel and
the negative environmental effects of fuel combustion. As a result,
many people’s attitudes changed, and so did their choice of vehicles.
Look at the newer models of vehicles in Figure 4.68. What are the
obvious differences between the older models in Figure 4.67 and
these newer models?

A B
Figure 4.68 In the last thirty years, car motors have become smaller and cars have become
more aerodynamic. Inventions such as fuel injection and catalytic converters have become more
widely used. These cars are more fuel-efficient and get better gas mileage.
Like the aircraft that you studied in Topic 7 and the cars you have
examined here, vehicles are constantly being improved as experimental
designs are tested. The vehicles in Figure 4.69 are alternatives to gaso-
line-powered vehicles. The racing car in Figure 4.69A uses solar panels
to capture the energy of the Sun. Solar energy is stored in a battery in
the car. The van in Figure 4.69B is powered by electricity. Most electri-
cally powered vehicles can travel about 80 km before the
battery needs recharging. The bus in Figure 4.69C
is fuelled by a hydrogen fuel cell. This cell www.school.mcgrawhill.ca/resources/
fuels a chemical reaction that uses hydrogen A Canadian company, Ballard Power Systems, devel-
and oxygen from the atmosphere to make oped the hydrogen fuel cell. To learn more about this compa-
ny and the hydrogen fuel cell it produces, visit the above web
electricity. The only exhaust from this bus
site. Go to Science Resources, then to SCIENCEFOCUS 8
is water that is clean enough to drink! to find out where to go next. In your notebook,
Why do you think these vehicles are draw and label a hydrogen fuel cell.
not widely used?
Figure 4.69A A solar-powered racing car
Figure 4.69B Electricity powers Figure 4.69C This bus is fuelled by a hydrogen fuel cell.
this van.

What Is It For?
When you set out to design a new technology or improve an existing
one, you must start with a clear understanding of what it is you want
the technology to do. This means that you must be very specific about
the task you wish to accomplish. For example, at one time, all rail cars
were either flat decks, or boxcars. These types of cars had limited uses.
Today, rail cars are specifically designed for different
A tasks. Examine the rail cars in Figure 4.70 and try to
determine the specific use of each one.
Each type of rail car is constantly evaluated by the
people who use and design them to ensure that they
are performing the tasks they were designed to do.
Scientists and technicians must always ask questions,
evaluate their work, and decide if changes need to
be made.
Sometimes scientists have to ask themselves
difficult questions. They often have to weigh the
B
positive and negative effects of a technology or a
new discovery. We may have the scientific under-
standing and the technological know-how to design
something, but should we do it? For example, many
people feel that we should not use nuclear power to
generate electricity even though we know how to
make and use this form of energy. While this
technology is actually quite clean and causes little
pollution when it is working properly, accidents at
nuclear power-generating plants can have devastat-
C
ing effects on both society and the environment.
There are times when you need to answer
questions responsibly and consider how your choices
might affect society or the environment. You often
do this when you purchase something. Do you own
an item that features much more technology than
you will ever need? Do you ever consider the energy
required to make something that you own? What
Figure 4.70 Rail cars are designed for specific uses. kinds of materials were used to make this product?
Where did these materials come from? Does the
product generate any waste? In the next activity,
you will evaluate a mechanical device to determine
For tips on scientific decision making, turn to
whether its production and operation had any
Skill Focus 8. environmental or social costs.

S K I L L C H E C K

4-K
The Real Costs

What to Do
In a group, create an evaluation form that you
can use to compare two different bicycles. You
will need to include:
• the purpose of the bicycle (e.g., commuting
to school, racing, trail riding, etc.),
• where the bicycle is ridden,
• any important design and safety features
(e.g., number of gears, modifications to seat,
handlebars, etc.), and
• other questions that you think are important
to ask.
You must also include questions and criteria

to evaluate whether the device is meeting the
purpose for which it was purchased. Devise
some questions to determine how the bicycles
might affect society and the environment in
both positive and negative ways. (Hints:
Consider whether mountain bikes are ridden
on trails; if people spend more money on
bicycles than they can afford; if people are
riding their bikes instead of driving or taking
a bus; if they own a bike that can do more
than they actually need it to do; or, if they
own a new bike when their last bike was
perfectly adequate.)
Think About It Use your form to evaluate two different bicy-
When you consider the cost of an item, you cles. Try to examine two bicycles that are quite
usually think of its price tag. Costs can also apply different, such as a mountain bike and a road
to other things, such as the cost to society or the bike. Revise your evaluation form if necessary.
environment. Think of the bicycles that we use
today. Do we need bicyles that have so many gears Analyze
and special features, or do we own something that 1. Explain how the two bicycles you evaluated
has much more technology than most of us will affect society and the environment, either
ever use? We usually think of bicycles as being positively or negatively.
good for the environment since they don’t
produce pollution when they are being used. 2. Why is determining the purpose of a
Of course this is true. We should also consider, mechanical device so important when you
however, how a product is made and what evaluate the device?
happens to it when it is no longer needed.

Designed for Comfort
One of the features you might have evaluated in the previous
investigation was the comfort of each bicycle’s seat. If you
have ever attended a sporting event or a concert, you will
know how uncomfortable some seats can be.
The fans in the cartoon have found a way to make watch-
ing a sports event more comfortable. What do the cushions
do to make sitting easier? How do inventors use their under-
standing of scientific concepts to design a more comfortable
seat? The answer lies in the relationship between force, area,
and pressure that you learned about in Topic 4. Think about
the difference between sleeping on the ground and sleeping
on an air mattress. Why is an air mattress more comfortable?
The activity below gives you a chance to test your answer.
Find Out
Flat Out
Materials 4. Using the same force, press on the balloon
balloon with one of your fingers. Observe what
happens to the balloon.
1. Inflate the balloon until it is about half full.

It should be soft enough so that you won’t
pop it when you poke it with your finger.
2. Press on the balloon with the palm of

your hand. Observe what happens to the
balloon.
1. Which method of pressing on the balloon

could you do for the longest time without
3. Using the same force, press on the balloon feeling tired or uncomfortable?
with the side of your hand. Observe what 2. Explain why an air mattress can support
happens to the balloon. you off the ground when you lie on it, but it
won’t support you off the ground if you are
on your knees or are standing on it.
3. Why do you usually change positions often

when you sit in class or when you are
sleeping? What would happen if you didn’t
move frequently?

The Science of Comfort
Topic 1 introduced the science of ergonomics. When ergonomic
researchers discover something that increases the comfort or efficiency
of a particular item, technicians are quick to build, test, and market
the changes.
Figure 4.71A A “pregnant” crash-test dummy is being used to Figure 4.71B This chair is being product-tested to determine
test seat belts. its strength and durability.
The testing systems shown above are designed to provide scientific

information to researchers. This allows them to decide what type of
safety belt or chair is the best for its designed purpose. Comfort is
often something that is evaluated when a device is tested. Sometimes
people must spend long periods of time in one position. Look at the
wheelchairs on the right. How have the wheelchairs changed over
time? Do earlier models look comfortable? Recent improvements in A
wheelchair design were made as a result of ergonomic research. Today,
there are also many types of specialized wheelchairs. Thanks to
advances in the design and comfort of wheelchairs, people who use
wheelchairs are able to take part in sports such as basketball and track
and field.
Modifications in wheelchair design reflect how changes in society
can produce changes in science and technology. Not long ago, for
instance, people who use wheelchairs had limited access to many build- B
ings and activities. Today, because people with disabilities have spoken
out, and because society is much more concerned about the rights of
people with disabilities, there have been many technological advances.
Now, we see wheelchair ramps, specially designed washrooms, doors
that open automatically, hand-operated vehicles and bicycles, and many
other technologies that give people in wheelchairs greater freedom.
In this Topic, you have learned how machines and mechanical
systems have changed over time and how changes in society and the
C
environment have prompted changes in science and technology. Not
Figure 4.72 Ergonomic
so long ago people had never heard of compact discs, or personal research has improved
computers, or cellular phones. What changes might lie in the future? wheelchair comfort.

Looking Ahead
Putting the Wheels in Motion
Designers adapt wheel-
chairs to suit different A number of companies in North America manufacture wheel-
needs and different chairs. No one design is suitable for every person and every
activities. Now you use, so they build many types. Most of the wheelchairs are
have the chance to designed by mechanical or manufacturing engineers. These
adapt or redesign a people have the specialized knowledge for the job. They know
tool to help people with how to position the parts so the chair won’t tip. They know
different needs. Turn to what size and type of motor can provide appropriate speed,
the Unit 4 Project on and so on.
page 354. Not all wheelchairs were developed by these manufacturing
professionals, though. Some chairs have been designed by
teams of students in universities or colleges. Some were
designed by experts in rehabilitation medicine. A few universi-
ties and learning institutes offer courses and programs in rehabilitation engineering that
teach about wheelchair design. Some wheelchairs have been designed by people who use
them. Two paraplegic men who love basketball decided to build a good, economical sports
wheelchair. A quadraplegic man wanted to travel down the bumpy hill to the river beside his
house, so he designed a specialized chair that could take him there. These people needed
products that no manufacturer had developed, so they developed them themselves.
Do some research to find out about courses in rehabilitation medicine or rehabilitation
engineering that are offered at Canadian colleges, universities, and other learning institutes.
TOPIC 8 Review
1. Explain how science has been used to improve the vehicles that we
drive today.
2. What is the first step you must take when designing a new machine or
redesigning an existing machine? In other words, what is the first
question you must ask yourself about the machine you want to build?
3. Describe how people’s understanding of the environment and the poten-

tial environmental impacts of emissions such as lead, as well as scientific
knowledge, have caused changes in the vehicles that we drive.
4. Describe how changes in society’s attitude toward people in wheelchairs

may have led to changes in the wheelchairs available to people who need
them. Were these changes made using science or technology or both?
5. Thinking Critically The relationship between science and technology

is often called a “chicken and egg argument.” (Which came first, the
chicken or the egg?) Explain how science and technology are like the
chicken and the egg.
6. Thinking Critically Give some examples showing how technology has

improved our ability to study science.

Wrap-up T O P I C S 7– 8
Key Terms
steam engine exhaust valve crankshaft hydrogen fuel cell
piston internal combustion engine mass production
Reviewing Key Terms

1. How does a steam turbine differ from a steam 12. Testing an idea using a computer model or a
engine? (7) simulation is often better than actual testing.
Look at Figure 4.71A on page 349 of your
2. What makes a piston move? (7) textbook. A crash-test dummy is one example
3. Where would you find pistons? (7) of a test simulation. Describe when a simula-
tion or model would be useful. Describe when
4. Explain the meaning of the words “internal” a simulation or model would not be useful. (8)
and “combustion” as they are used in the
term “internal combustion engine.” (7)
5. Describe how the Industrial Revolution made

mass production possible. (8)
6. Describe the different types of exhaust that

come from a steam engine, an internal
combustion engine, and a hydrogen fuel cell.
(7, 8)
Understanding Key Concepts

7. Steam engines and internal combustion
engines both have pistons that go through an
up-and-down cycle. State two ways in which
the cycles for steam engines and internal
combustion engines are different. (7)
13. Give three examples of how science and
8. Explain the relationship between air pressure technology have helped to improve life for
and flight. How do aircraft take advantage of people with disabilities. (8)
changes in air pressure? (7)
14. Explain whether science or technology is
9. Explain how science and technology relate to responsible for most of the improvements in
one another. (7, 8) the mechanical devices that we use. (7, 8)
10. Describe three differences between a moun- 15. List two mechanical devices that have
tain bike and a road bike. Explain why these changed because of environmental concerns.
differences exist. (8) (7, 8)
11. List three questions you would ask if you 16. List two mechanical devices that have
were given the task of improving the design changed because of societal concerns. (7, 8)
of a shopping cart. (8)

4
U N I T
Ask an Expert
If you had to get someone out of an upside-down car that
has been crushed in a collision, what tool would you use?
Randy Segboer will tell you there is no simple answer to that
question. As a firefighting instructor at the Alberta Fire
Training School (AFTS), Randy trains firefighters and rescue
workers in just about every skill they need to know. His
specialty is rescue extrication — getting people out of
dangerous situations.
Q How did you become a firefighting instructor?

example. So, we first try hand tools because
they don’t require any set-up time.
A I was a mechanic for many years before I
We may try to force open a jammed door
joined the fire service. I came to AFTS for
specialized training as a firefighter, and later I using a leverage tool called a Halligan.
became an instructor. I’ve been teaching here While one firefighter is prying with the
for three years now. Halligan, others are setting up the next type
of equipment in case the Halligan doesn’t
Q What do you teach students about rescue extrication? do the job. For many jammed doors, simple
hand tools alone would take too long.
A We teach them the proper use of tools at a
rescue scene and give them hands-on experi-
ence in judging when to use each tool. We
stage many kinds of rescue scenarios here at
the school, and the students respond as
though each scenario were the real thing.
Q Can you describe one of those scenarios?
A Let’s say we have a car accident, a single-

vehicle rollover, with an injured victim pinned
inside the car. First, we have to stabilize the
scene — make sure the car isn’t going to roll
farther, slide down a hill, or burst into flames.
Next, we assess the victim’s health and deter-
mine what’s trapping the victim inside the car.
Q How do you decide which tools you will use to get

the victim out?
A Unless a car door will open, we will have to
force or cut some part of the car in order to
In this rescue simulation, Richelle Johnson, who is training to
get inside. It’s important to use as little force
become an emergency services technician, uses a HalliganTM
as possible so that we don’t make the situation to pry a small opening in a jammed car door.
worse, by causing the car to collapse, for

Randy shows Richelle how to use a heavy hydraulic spreader to force open a car door.
Q What type of equipment do the rescue workers

the point that will give, you may have made
the situation worse.
try next?
A The next option is to use hand hydraulic Q Do you use any other kinds of rescue equipment?
tools. These are similar to a hydraulic car jack.
We pump these tools by hand and the
A Rescue trucks and fire-pump trucks usually
carry some pneumatic equipment as well,
hydraulic action pulls or pushes apart two such as pneumatic wrenches, chisels, and jack-
sections of the car. Hydraulic tools apply more hammers. We also have airbags, which we
force than a simple hand tool, but it takes two place between the ground and a solid part of
people to operate them. One person pumps the vehicle. Then we inflate the airbag to
to supply power while the other person raise the vehicle.
manipulates the tool.
Our goal is to get the victim out as quickly
If the car door remains jammed, we move on as possible to improve chances of survival.
to heavy hydraulic tools, which are powered Basically, we’ll use anything that helps us
by an engine or compressed air. Simple hand achieve that goal.
tools, hand hydraulic tools, and heavy
hydraulic tools all do the same thing: push,
pull, or cut. The advantage of the heavy
hydraulic tools is their power and strength. In
most situations, these tools get the job done. Tools of the Trade
Reread the information about the specific
Q If that is so, why not just use heavy hydraulic tools tools mentioned in this interview. For each
in every situation? tool, list as much information as you
A Heavy hydraulic tools take time to set up.
can, including
During that time, other workers might as well • the energy source
be trying the faster tools. Noise is another • any simple machine(s) involved
factor. The sound of the loud, heavy hydraulic • advantages and disadvantages of using
tools can raise the victim’s anxiety and blood the tool in a rescue situation
pressure. Also, heavy hydraulic tools are
extremely powerful. They apply a lot of force Can you suggest other jobs that might
and when something finally gives, it gives in a use these same tools? List the jobs and
big way. If you haven’t correctly anticipated compare your list with a classmate’s.
Ask An Expert Unit 4 • MHR 353

4
T
C
J
E Adapting Tools
O
Have you ever broken your arm and had it set in a cast? If so, you probably had
R
trouble doing simple, everyday tasks. Opening a jar of peanut butter or styling
your hair would be awkward with your arm in a cast.
P
Some people are born with conditions that make it hard to perform delicate
hand and finger movements. Also, many older people do not have the strength to
open a jar or a can. People with arthritis find it difficult to open bottles or jars with
childproof lids. Common household utensils and tools are not usually designed for
people with such physical challenges.
With the help of an occupational therapist, this woman is A person who has arthritis is using a specially designed
relearning how to use a knife after a hand injury. manual aid to open a jar of honey.
One of the jobs of an occupational therapist is to personal-care items (e.g., comb, hairbrush, toothbrush,
soap, mirror, empty childproof prescription bottle), or
find or adapt tools and gadgets for use by people other common household items of your choice
who have been injured or disabled. The photo- cardboard
graph on the right above shows a special tool scissors
designed for use by people who have conditions dowels
such as arthritis. (Arthritis is an inflammation tape
of the joints characterized by pain, swelling, wood
and stiffness.) Styrofoam™
glue or glue gun
Challenge
Adapt or redesign tools, utensils, personal-care Safety Precautions
items, or craft or hobby items for use by an older
person who has lost strength or another person
• Be careful when using sharp objects such as
with a physical injury or disability. scissors, knives, and screwdrivers.
• A glue gun is hot and the glue remains hot for
Materials several minutes.
tools (e.g., pliers, wrench, hammer, screwdriver,
putty knife)
utensils (e.g., table knife, fork, spoon, tongs, funnel,
measuring spoons, spatula)

Design Criteria
A. Choose two items from the tools, utensils, and Subdivide the group into two smaller groups
personal-care items listed above. Adapt or and assign one of the two devices to each
redesign the devices for use by a person who is group. Assemble your device, testing it at each
physically challenged in some way. stage of assembly. When each group has
accomplished as much as possible, the two
B. Each adaptation must include at least one type groups will confer with each other. If one
of simple machine that you have studied in group has ideas that can help the other group
this unit. improve its device, implement that idea. If
C. Your adaptation must be completed and ready either group finds that its device cannot be
to demonstrate to the class during the time made to function properly, the group should
allotted by your teacher. start to work on the alternative.
D. Your adaptation may be either an actual device When the devices or models are completed,
or a working model. the whole group will prepare a written and
oral presentation describing and demonstrat-
E. You must submit a summary of each team ing the devices for the class.
member’s contribution to the design,
development, and demonstration of your Evaluate
adapted device.
1. As a group, discuss the effectiveness of your
devices. Did they perform as well as you had
Plan and Construct intended? Why or why not?
In your group, brainstorm a variety of tools or
utensils that you could adapt to meet the 2. Did you encounter problems in developing
Challenge outlined above. Decide what specific your devices? If so, how well did you solve the
task each adapted device would allow the per- problems?
son using it to perform. Discuss why a person 3. How practical would your devices be for use
with a specific physical disability would be by a person who has a physical challenge?
unable to perform the task without your device.
4. What would you change about your design
Of the items that you discussed, select two if you were to begin again?
that the majority of the group members would
like to adapt or redesign. If you wish, select 5. Write a summary of your group’s evaluation of
one optional device in case one of your the two devices.
choices does not function as planned.
Make a list of the materials you will need for

each device or model.
Assign tasks to each member of your group,

such as the collection of materials, the assem-
bly of the device or model, and the testing of
the device or model. Set deadlines for each
stage of the project.
Working in a group, design an original tool or device
As a group, draft an illustrated plan that for use by a person who has a physical disability. If
clearly shows the materials and the design of time permits, construct a model of your new device
the adapted device. Submit your plan to your and give it a name.
teacher for approval.
Unit 4 Project • MHR 355

U N I T
4 Review
Unit at a Glance
• Simple machines, such as levers, inclined planes, • Hydraulic and pneumatic systems are all around
and pulleys, help people perform tasks that us, even in our bodies.
would otherwise be difficult to do. • Many mechanical devices are a combination of
• There are three kinds of levers: Class 1, Class 2, smaller subsystems.
and Class 3. • Mechanical devices have changed as science and
• Work is done only when force produces motion technology have changed.
in the direction of the force. • Changes in society and the environment
• Machines make work easier because they change sometimes result in changes to science and
the size or the direction of the force put into a technology.
machine.
• Mechanical advantage is the comparison of the Understanding Key Concepts
force produced by a machine to the force 1. Define the terms “work” and “mechanical
applied to the machine. advantage” and express them as mathematical
• Machines and other products can be designed formulas.
and adapted to suit the specific needs of people.
2. Explain why machines, including levers, are
• Pulleys can be fixed or movable. Pulleys change not 100 percent efficient. Use the definition
the direction of the motion when objects are of efficiency in your answer.
lifted.
• Objects have stored or potential energy, and 3. Explain the difference between energy
kinetic energy. conversion and power transmission.
• Machines such as a chain and sprocket are used 4. Describe a situation in which friction is useful.
to transfer energy.
• Friction reduces the efficiency of mechanical 5. Describe how valves work. Use a drawing if
systems. you wish.
• When you change the area over which a force 6. Determine the mechanical advantage of the
acts, the pressure changes. compound pulley shown here.
• Equipment such as seatbelts and football
helmets spread force over a larger area.
• Pascal’s law states that pressure exerted on
a contained fluid is transmitted unchanged
throughout the fluid. FE = 25 N
• Pressure exerted on a gas and on a liquid results
in different outcomes.
• Hydraulic systems are closed systems. They
confine a fluid in an enclosed space.
• Pneumatic systems are open systems. Fluid —
usually air — passes through pneumatic devices
under high pressure and then escapes outside
the device. FL = 100 N

7. Describe how a change in area affects pressure.
8. Explain how a hydraulic lift works.
9. State Pascal’s law and describe some

applications of this principle in hydraulic and
pneumatic systems.
10. Using diagrams, explain how (a) a steam

engine works, and (b) how an internal
combustion engine works.
15. Choose a mechanical device and make a time-
11. Imagine picking up a bowling ball and
line showing how this device has changed
carrying it across the room. Explain the
over time. Write a statement predicting how
steps in which you are doing work in the
this device might change in the future. Use
scientific sense.
diagrams if you wish.
12. Give an example of a situation in which you
16. Copy the following flow chart into your
would want to reduce the force exerted by a
notebook and fill in the blanks.
simple machine.
_______ LAW
Developing Skills
13. Complete the following concept map of sim- Fluids
ple machines, using these words and phrases:
lever, inclined plane, wheel and axle, effort
force, work, pulley, mechanical advantage, incompressible Liquids
load, and efficiency.
Pneumatic air usually
SIMPLE Systems escapes
MACHINES
can be do give you a Living Body
which is which Heart

related to compares Machines
Machines
backhoe
dental drill
automobile brakes
14. Look at the photograph above of the man sandblaster

chopping wood with an axe. If the man exerts
an effort force of 80 N and the load force of
the wood is 320 N, what is the mechanical
advantage of the axe?
Unit 4 Review • MHR 357

17. A typical high school student weighs 725 N design and explain how all of the subsystems
and wears shoes that touch the ground over work. Clearly explain how you decided on the
an area of 412 cm2. number of nails you used in your juicer.
(a) What is the average pressure the student’s Design an experiment to test different juice
shoes exert on the ground? designs. Identify the manipulated and
responding variables in your experiment. Also,
(b) How does the answer to (a) change if the
list criteria for evaluating your design.
student stands on one foot?
25. Describe how your body is similar to a
18. Choose an object found in nature and
machine consisting of various subsystems. List
speculate about which qualities of the object
the subsystems present in your body.
scientists might investigate and learn from.
26. Describe the simple machines that are found
19. Redesign a pen so that it can be used by a
in this mechanical device.
person with severe arthritis in the hands.
Problem Solving/Applying
20. Design a pulley system that is similar to the
platform of a window washer. You should be
able to stand on the platform and pull on a
rope that lifts the platform with your own
weight on it. Sketch your pulley system.
21. Why might you choose a gear that would

make you pedal extremely fast while your
bicycle was travelling slowly?
22. Assume that you are able to exert a force of

200 N on the piston of a hydraulic lift that has
27. Give two examples of a technological product
an area of 25 cm2. What would the area of the
or device that has caused a problem for the
other plunger have to be if you wanted to lift a
environment, and suggest an existing or
load of 1000 N?
potential solution to the problem.
23. Sketch and describe a lever and a hydraulic lift
28. Describe two jobs that use hydraulic and/or
that would both have a mechanical advantage
pneumatic systems.
of 4. Use numerical values to describe the
length of the lever arms and the areas of the
pistons in the hydraulic lift. Critical Thinking
29. Design a manually operated machine that will
24. Design Your Own You have been given the load a 5 t elephant onto a truck.
task of creating an orange-juicing machine.
The “juicer” of your machine (the part that 30. Machines make work easier, but you always
will hit the orange) is a piece of Styrofoam™ have to do more work than the machine does
with one or more nails pushed through it. You on the load. Explain this statement.
can design the other subsystems of the
31. Hydraulic systems operate automobile brakes.
machine in any way you wish. Sketch your
Describe one problem that could occur in a

hydraulic system. Think of one reason why a 39. Describe the changes in society, science, and
hydraulic system is more appropriate for technology that have led to changes in wheel-
brakes than a mechanical system made of chair design from the older model shown here,
levers, gears, or pulleys. to modern, more efficient designs.
32. Think of one advantage and one disadvantage

of using pneumatic systems to power rescue
equipment such as the inflatable rescue
walkway on page 313.
33. The Heimlich manoeuvre is an emergency

technique used to dislodge an object caught
in the throat. How is this technique an
application of Pascal’s law?
34. If you were sinking in quicksand, would it be

better to remain standing or to lie down?
Explain your answer.
35. Why do you think it is important to continue

looking for ways to make machines more
efficient?
36. How do you think it was possible for

Thomas Savery and James Watt to build steam
engines when they did not know the scientific
principles and theory of heat engines?
37. The steam engine allowed factories to

produce goods faster and more efficiently than
production by hand. Why would the speed
and efficiency of the engine encourage more
people to open factories? Why did the growth
in the number of factories change people’s
lives so dramatically?
38. Explain how changes in society and/or the

environment can affect science and technology.
Give two examples.
Review the ideas described in Unit at a Glance on

page 356. Write a paragraph that summarizes what you
have learned about these ideas.
Unit 4 Review • MHR 359

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U N I T

The Wheel and

How can the pressure of fluids be used to operate a machine such

268 MHR • Mechanical Systems

Unit 4 Preview • MHR 269

If you were to exert a force on a screwdriver, the screwdriver would

load arm effort arm

For tips on making a

270 MHR • Mechanical Systems

Figure 4.3A An example of

Levers and Inclined Planes • MHR 271

Initiating and Planning

Performing and Recording

Communication and Teamwork

272 MHR • Mechanical Systems

Levers and Inclined Planes • MHR 273

before after before before

274 MHR • Mechanical Systems

The Canadarm is a valuable addition to the space shuttle program

Levers and Inclined Planes • MHR 275

The Inclined Plane

276 MHR • Mechanical Systems

Procedure Performing and Recording

1. Copy the data table shown here into

4. Calculate the amount of work needed to lift

Levers and Inclined Planes • MHR 277

What Is Mechanical Advantage?

effort force = 2500 N

fulcrum load force

278 MHR • Mechanical Systems

Finally, a machine may have a mechanical advantage equal to 1. For

A crafty coyote is trying to use a catapult to

Levers and Inclined Planes • MHR 279

1. Does one method make cutting the card-

You have been learning about different

280 MHR • Mechanical Systems

Using the branch as a Class 1 lever allows the effort force to be

Although it might seem strange, there are situations

Levers and Inclined Planes • MHR 281

If you need tips on

282 MHR • Mechanical Systems

A Another way to avoid

Levers and Inclined Planes • MHR 283

2. How much work, in joules, must you do to lift an elephant weighing

6. Thinking Critically Think of a practical use for a lever with a

284 MHR • Mechanical Systems

A Lever That Keeps on Lifting

The Wheel and Axle, Gears, and Pulleys • MHR 285

Figure 4.13 Each of these

286 MHR • Mechanical Systems

The Wheel and Axle, Gears, and Pulleys • MHR 287

Materials 5. Count the number of teeth on each gear.

3. Explain two different measurements that

288 MHR • Mechanical Systems

wheel and pinion (gears in contact) chain and sprockets

Figure 4.20 This enormous

The Wheel and Axle, Gears, and Pulleys • MHR 289

Initiating and Planning

Performing and Recording