digplanet beta 1: Athena
Share digplanet:

Agriculture

Applied sciences

Arts

Belief

Chronology

Culture

Education

Environment

Geography

Health

History

Humanities

Language

Law

Life

Mathematics

Nature

People

Politics

Science

Society

Technology

A wood splitting wedge

A wedge is a triangular shaped tool, a compound and portable inclined plane of a wedge is given by the ratio of the length of its slope to its width.[1][2] 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.

Perhaps the first example of a wedge is the hand axe, also see biface and Olorgesailie. A hand axe is made by chipping stone, generally flint, to form a bifacial edge, or wedge. A wedge is a simple machine that transforms lateral force and movement of the tool into a transverse splitting force and movement of the workpiece. The available power is limited by the effort of the person using the tool, but because power is the product of force and movement, the wedge amplifies the force by reducing the movement. This amplification, or mechanical advantage is the ratio of the input speed to output speed. For a wedge this is given by 1 The faces of a wedge are modeled as straight lines to form a sliding or prismatic joint.

The origin of the wedge is not known. In ancient Egyptian bronze wedges were used to break away blocks of stone used in construction. Wooden wedges that swelled after being saturated with water, were also used. Some indigenous peoples of the Americas used antler wedges for splitting and working wood to make canoes, dwellings and other objects.

$\textrm{Mechanical\ Advantage}={\textrm{Length} \over \textrm{Width}}$

The more acute, or narrow, the angle of a wedge, the greater the ratio of the length of its slope to its width, and thus the more mechanical advantage it will yield.[2]

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.

## References

1. ^ Bowser, Edward Albert (1920), An elementary treatise on analytic mechanics: with numerous examples (25th ed.), D. Van Nostrand Company, pp. 202–203.
2. ^ a b McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, Third Ed., Sybil P. Parker, ed., McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1992, p. 2041.

Original courtesy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_(mechanical_device) — Please support Wikipedia.
A portion of the proceeds from advertising on Digplanet goes to supporting Wikipedia.
 180 videos foundNext >
 How to Pronounce QuoinsLearn how to say Quoins correctly with EmmaSaying's "how do you pronounce" free tutorials. Definition of quoin (oxford dictionary): noun 1an external angle o... How to Pronounce QuoinLearn how to say Quoin correctly with EmmaSaying's "how do you pronounce" free tutorials. Definition of quoin (oxford dictionary): noun 1an external angle of... Zap_T-lok_Assembly.aviShear screw and wedge mechanical headed device for end anchorage of reinforcing steel in beam-column joints, knee joints, pile caps, column roof slab connect... Zap_T-lok_Reversed_Assembly.aviShear screw and wedge mechanical headed device for end anchorage of reinforcing steel in beam-column joints, knee joints, pile caps, column roof slab connect... Mechanical devicesthis is a good example of a mechanical device that turns clockwise and counter clockwise directions into one direction as found on www.brainlubeonline.com. Wedge mechanism 16Double wedge mechanism. The green input slider and the blue output one move in opposite directions. The pink wedge moves perpendicularly to them This mechani... Pulleys - simple machinesSimple Machines lesson for 3rd grade unit. From Disney's Bill Nye the Science Guy. Levers, pulleys, and wheels. Also clips from Eureka!, a 1980 animated shor... Amzer® ShatterProof Screen Protector for iPhone 5 Scratch Test (Wedge)http://www.amzer.com/ShatterProof/ AMZER ShatterProof Screen Protector is super thin urethane film at only 0.2 mm thick, ShatterProof certified by the ASTM (... Simple Machines with Bill NyeSimple Machines part 1 lesson for 3rd grade unit. From Disney's Bill Nye the Science Guy. Levers, pulleys, and wheels. Rock-Paper-Fibers: Bringing Physical Affordance to Mobile Touch DevicesAs the surfaces of touchpads and touch screens are feature-less, they offer little affordance. To alleviate this, researchers have proposed overlaying touch ...
 180 videos foundNext >

We're sorry, but there's no news about "Wedge (mechanical device)" right now.

 Limit to books that you can completely read online Include partial books (book previews) .gsc-branding { display:block; }

Oops, we seem to be having trouble contacting Twitter

# Talk About Wedge (mechanical device)

You can talk about Wedge (mechanical device) with people all over the world in our discussions.