Engineering & MachinesMechanics

Gears

Trading speed for force is how bikes climb hills

A hill doesn't get any shorter when you click into an easier gear. So where does all that hard work go?

You'll find out

  • What a gear really trades
  • Why low gear can't make a climb cheaper
  • A gear set in concrete that still runs

Why it matters

Bikes, cars and clocks all strike the same bargain. See it once and every machine that turns makes sense.

About 3 min6 interactive slides · 5 questionsLesson 125 · Zone 14

Play this lesson

Free to play in your browser or on iPhone

More in this zone

  1. 118NeuroscienceHow Fast Are You?Reacting to a light takes about a quarter of a second
  2. 119AstronomyThe Sun Is WhiteIt only looks yellow through our atmosphere
  3. 120NumbersFind Your Birthday in PiPi's endless digits almost certainly hide every date
  4. 121Mobile MessagingWhy Texts Were 160 CharactersAn engineer counted the letters on postcards
  5. 122Social MediaWhy Tweets Were 140Twitter left 20 characters of every text message for your name
  6. 123Language ModelsThe Word-Guessing MachineChatbots write by predicting the next word, again and again
  7. 124OpticsWhy the Sky Is BlueAir scatters blue light far more than red, and sunsets are the leftovers
  8. 126StatisticsThe Bell Curve MachineBouncing balls always pile up into the same shape