ICT Project-Physics:

How things work

By Tim B

To main menu
 Menu page
 Pulleys
 Forces
 Levers
 Wheels and axles
 Light bulb
 Internal Combustion engine
 Steam engine
 Rocket
 Jet engine
 Electric motor
 Pulleys
 A pulley is a simple
machine that uses
grooved wheels to raise
and lower things.
 Pulleys are used on boats
and in building work.

back
 A force is Forces
something that is
acting on objects For
 For example, example:
gravity is a force. It Gravity
is what keeps us
on the ground, or
what makes
planets orbit the The
sun. car’s Friction
 There are other engine
forces too. Other
forces act on
different things:
 Up thrust
(buoyancy) is what
keeps ships
Back
floating.
 Also, friction slows
moving things
 Levers
 Levers are basic machines
that makes work easier.

 Levers often require a pivot,

e.g the bit in the middle of
see-saws.

 Types of levers are scissors,

hammer-claws and see saws.

Back
Back
 Wheels and axels
 An axel is a rod that is used
to move, raise or lower
things.
 It is usually connected to a
wheel or wheels.
 They can be found on railway
wheels, car wheels and tyres.

Axel Wheel
s

Back
 The internal combustion
Engine
 The internal
combustion engine
is what drives most
cars, lorries, buses 1. Intake of fuel
and some trains. 2. Compression of
fuel
 This engine burns a 3. The fuel is ignited
fuel (e.g petrol or 4. Exhaust is pushed
out.
diesel) to turn an
axel which then
makes the vehicle
go forwards.

Back
 The Steam Engine
 Steam engines use a
source of heat (e.g
coal) to heat up water
so that it turns into
steam.
 The steam is piped to
cylinders that use the
steam to power things,
e.g steam trains,
pumps, wheels,
propellers.
 Steam trains are just
steam engines on
wheels!
 The chuf chuf noise Back
that you hear from
steam trains is the
cylinders
Back going
backwards and
 Rocket
 Rockets use a highly
flammable fuel to propel things
at very high speeds-e.g space
shuttles, missiles, fireworks
e.t.c.
 They were used in the Second
World War, as the world’s 1st
ballistic missile!
Back

Click
this
button!
 Jet engines were
Jet engine
invented by Frank
Whittle in the
1930s.
 Jet engines compress
air, then ignite it out
of the back of the
jet. This propels the
engine forward.
 They use a highly
flammable fuel,
called kerosene.
Back
 They are far more
efficient and
powerful than
propeller planes.
 The light bulb
 The 1st practical light
bulb was invented in
1879 by Thomas
Edison.
 It used electricity to
make a bit of material
glow very brightly.
 Before him, people
were experimenting Back
with bamboo or
charcoal filaments!
 Nowadays, we use a
tungsten filament.

Note: The filament is the bit that

glows.
 Electric Motor
 Electric motors use
magnets to create
motion. While the ‘north’
magnet is pushing 1 side
away, the ‘south’
magnet is attracting it.
 As it rotates, these red
bits rotate, and are then
on the opposite green
bit.
 This changes the Back
current; which makes
the ‘north’ magnet
attract one side, and the
‘south’ magnet repel it.
 This makes the bar
rotate and