How does a wheel and axle make work easier?
In: Engineering
Wheels reduce friction but an axle and wheel works like a lever and fulcrum: either you can apply a great amount of force over a short distance and receive a great amount of distance or you can apply a small amount of force over a great distance and receive a great amount of force. Think of a lever as a wheel and a fulcrum as an axle. Basically, it uses the mechanical advantage of distance to reduce the amount of force needed to move things.
Edit: maybe think of it like an axle, a fulcrum, a pulley, and a wedge all allow you to divide or spread out force over a distance and that allows you to apply more force over time (and the reverse is true as well: you can increase force applied at a smaller distance/time and have it be dispersed over a greater distance/amount of time, depending on where your fulcrum is and where you apply force).
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