Wedge (mechanics)

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Wedge (mechanics)

A wedge is a triangular

Triangle

A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or wikt:vertex and three sides or edges which are line segments....
shaped tool, a compound and portable inclined plane

Inclined plane

The inclined plane is one of the original six simple machines; as the name suggests, it is a flat surface whose endpoints are at different heights....
, and one of the six classical simple machine

Simple machine

A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force.In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage to multiply force....
s. It can be used to separate two objects or portions of an object, lift an object, or hold an object in place. It functions by converting a force

Force

In physics, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity. Force has both Euclidean_vector#Length of a vector and Direction , making it a Vector quantity....
applied to its blunt end into forces perpendicular to its length. The mechanical advantage

Mechanical advantage

In physics and engineering, mechanical advantage is the factor by which a mechanism multiplies the force or torque put into it. Generally, the mechanical advantage is calculated as follows:...
of a wedge is given by the ratio of its length to its width. Although a short wedge with a wide angle may do a job faster, it requires more force than a long wedge with a narrow angle.

origin of the wedge is unknown likely because it has been in use for over 9000 years.

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A wedge is a triangular

Triangle

Inclined plane

Simple machine

Force

Mechanical advantage

In physics and engineering, mechanical advantage is the factor by which a mechanism multiplies the force or torque put into it. Generally, the mechanical advantage is calculated as follows:...
of a wedge is given by the ratio of its length to its width. Although a short wedge with a wide angle may do a job faster, it requires more force than a long wedge with a narrow angle.

History

The origin of the wedge is unknown likely because it has been in use for over 9000 years. In ancient Egyptian

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
quarries

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mining from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone....
, bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other chemical element such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon....
wedges were used to break away blocks of stone used in construction. Wooden

Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
wedges, that swelled after being saturated with water, were also used. Some indigenous peoples of the Americas

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples....
used antler

Antler

Antlers are the usually large and complex horn -like appendages of most deer species, mostly worn by males in true horns. Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle....
wedges for splitting and working wood to make canoes, dwellings and other objects.

Examples for lifting and separating

Wedges can be used to lift heavy objects, separating them from the surface they rest on. They can also be used to separate objects, such as blocks of cut stone. Splitting mauls and splitting wedges are used to split wood along the grain. A narrow wedge with a relatively long taper

Taper

In cymbal making, taper refers to the gradual change in thickness from the bell to the rim of the cymbal. It is one of the key features that determines the timbre of the cymbal....
used to finely adjust the distance between objects is called a shim, and is commonly used in carpentry.

The tips of forks and nails

Nail (engineering)

In engineering, woodworking and construction, a nail is a Pin -shaped, sharp object of hard metal, typically steel, used as a fastener. Nails for specialized purposes may also be made of stainless steel, brass or aluminium....
are also wedges, as they split and separate the material into which they are pushed or driven; the shafts may then hold fast due to friction.

Examples for holding fast

Wedges can also be used to hold objects in place, such as engine

Internal combustion engine

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs in a combustion chamber inside and integral to the engine. In an internal combustion engine it is always the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases that are produced by the combustion which apply force to the movable component of the engine, such as...
parts (poppet valve

Poppet valve

A poppet valve is a valve consisting of a hole, usually round or oval, and a tapered plug, usually a disk shape on the end of a shaft also called a valve stem....
s), bicycle

Bicycle

The bicycle, bike, or cycle is a pedal-driven, human-powered transport with two bicycle wheel attached to a bicycle frame, one behind the other....
parts (stem

Stem (bicycle part)

The stem is the component on a bicycle that connects the handlebars to the bicycle fork. Sometimes called a goose neck, a stem's design belongs to either a quill or threadless system, and each system is compatible with respective headset and fork designs:...
s and eccentric

Eccentric (mechanism)

An eccentric in mechanical engineering is a circular disk solidly fixed to a rotating axle with its centre offset from that of the axle .It is most often employed in steam engines and used to convert rotary into linear reciprocating motion in order to drive a sliding valve or a pump ram....
bottom bracket

Bottom bracket

The bottom bracket on a bicycle connects the crankset to the bicycle and allows the crankset to rotate freely. It contains a axle to which the crankset is attached and the bearing that allow the spindle and cranks to rotate....
s), and door

Door

A door is a moveable barrier used to cover an opening. Doors are used widely and are found in walls or partitions of a building or space, furniture such as cupboards, cage s, vehicles, and containers....
s.

A wedge-type door stop (door wedge) functions largely because of the friction generated between the bottom of the door and the wedge, and the wedge and the floor (or other surface).

Mechanical advantage

The mechanical advantage

Mechanical advantage

In physics and engineering, mechanical advantage is the factor by which a mechanism multiplies the force or torque put into it. Generally, the mechanical advantage is calculated as follows:...
of a wedge can be calculated by dividing its length by its width as follows:

The more "acute" (narrow) the angle of a wedge, the greater the ratio of its length to its width, and thus the more mechanical advantage it will yield.

However, in an elastic material such as wood, friction may bind a narrow wedge more easily than a wide one. This is why the head of a splitting maul has a much wider angle than that of an axe.

Wedge (mechanics)

History

Examples for lifting and separating

Examples for holding fast

Mechanical advantage

See also

External links