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

BackBack
 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 Wheels

Back
 The internal combustion Engine
 The internal
combustion engine is
what drives most cars,
lorries, buses and
some trains. 1. Intake of fuel
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 that
you hear from steam
trains is the cylinders
going backwards and Back
forwards.

Back
 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.
 They are far more Back
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 with
bamboo or charcoal Back
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 current;
which makes the ‘north’
magnet attract one side, Back
and the ‘south’ magnet repel
it.
 This makes the bar rotate
and