A Compound Machine: The Bicycle Sph4c (Page 3 of 4) in pdf

A Compound Machine: The Bicycle Sph4c Page 3

Part 3: Gears

On the bicycle, the gears are also called

sprockets and are connected by a chain.

Determine the gear ratios for the bicycle.

(Note that you may find it easier to take

the ratios of the diameters of the gears

than the ratios of the number of teeth.)

How many possible effort (driver/pedal)

gears are there? _____________

List their measurements (either the number of teeth or the diameters of the gears):

____________________________________________________________________________

How many possible load (driven/rear wheel) gears are there? _____________

List their measurements (either the number of teeth or the diameters of the gears):

____________________________________________________________________________

What is the lowest possible gear ratio/IMA? Remember that your gear ratio is the ratio of the

number of teeth (or the diameter) of the effort gear to the number of teeth (or the diameter) of

the load gear. To get the lowest possible gear ratio, you need to take the ratio of the smallest

effort gear to the largest load gear. Show your calculation here:

Under what conditions would you want to use this gear ratio? Explain.

____________________________________________________________________________

What is the highest possible gear ratio/IMA? To get the highest possible gear ratio, you need to

take the ratio of the largest effort gear to the smallest load gear. Show your calculation here:

Under what conditions would you want to use this gear ratio? Explain.

____________________________________________________________________________

A Compound Machine: The Bicycle Sph4c Page 3