Study Guide: Simple Machines
S8P3c
1. Which type of simple machine is being used to move the furniture into the van?
A. wedge
B. lever
C. wheel and axle
D. inclined plane
2. The diagram below shows a hammer being used by a person to remove a nail from a piece of
wood.
The hammer is being used as which type of simple machine?
A. pulley
B. lever
C. inclined plane D. wheel and axle
3. Shaina uses a shovel to dig a hole to plant a tree. A shovel is an example of a compound machine
because it is made up of what two simple machines?
A. lever and wedge B. screw and wedge
C. inclined plane and wedge
D. wheel and axle and lever
Study Guide: Simple Machines
S8P3c
4. The picture below shows a light bulb.
The bottom of this light bulb is an example of what type of simple machine?
A. a lever
B. a screw C. a pulley
D. a wedge
Study Guide: Simple Machines
S8P3c
5. Marianne and her family are driving from West Virginia to California. While driving through the
Rocky Mountains, they encounter a rock slide. A huge boulder, a few smaller rocks and several tree
branches block the road. Her father creates a lever using a long tree branch and a small rock to help
move the boulder. Look at the diagram below.
Where should Marianne’s father place the small rock?
A. She should place the rock close to the boulder (at Point A).
B. She should place the rock away from the boulder (at Point B).
C. She should place the rock near the end of the branch (at Point C).
D. It makes no difference where she places the rock.
6. Why would the smaller bicycle take more work to ride?
Study Guide: Simple Machines
S8P3c
A. Smaller pedals are harder to push.
B. Smaller seats have less room to sit on.
C. Smaller handlebars are harder to steer.
D. Smaller wheels have a turn more often.
7. When doing work using simple machines, what happens when the effort distance is increased?
A. The effort force is increased.
B. The effort force is decreased.
C. The resistance force is increased.
D. The direction of the effort force is changed.
8. When you turn a screw with a screwdriver, you are actually using two simple machines: a screw
and the screwdriver is an example of a(n) _____.
A. lever B. wedge
C. inclined plane
D. wheel and axle
9. Given the following list of simple machines, what do they all have in common?
▪ fixed pulley, ▪ crowbar ▪ crowbar ▪ seesaw ▪ claw hammer
A. They increase the input force.
B. They decrease the input force.
C. They change the direction of the input force.
D. They increase the distance an object must move.
10. Identify the simple machines found in a pair of scissors.
11. Identify the simple machines are found in a can opener?
12. Explain the difference between a simple machine and a complex machine.
13. Identify the simple machines used by the woman in the diagram to the right to make his work
easier.
Study Guide: Simple Machines
S8P3c