Simple Machines – The Inclined Plane

This article was originally published in Oct 2008.

As with all machines, if we want the force exerted by the effort to be less than the force exerted by the load, the distance travelled by the effort has to be more than the distance travelled by the load.

Below are 4 illustrations how the inclined plane works.



The more gradual the slope, the greater the distance travelled by the effort compared to the distance travelled by the load. This means that the more gradual the slope, the less effort is needed to move the load.

Examples of applications of the ramp in real life – wheelchair ramps for the disabled, gradual and winding slopes of a road found in mountainous terrain (e.g. roads to Gentling Highlands or Cameron Highlands).



It can be noted that the ‘sharper’ the wedge, the less the effort is needed because for the same distance travelled by the effort, the distance moved by the load is now less.

Examples of applications of the wedge in real life – axe head, blades of knives, metal wedges for prying open flanges of pipes in heavy industries.



Fig 1 - For every 1 turn the screw makes, the screw is driven down by the distance of ‘1 pitch’. Hence, the more gradual the slope of the thread, the smaller the distance it will be between 2 threads, as shown in Fig 2.

Fig 2 - the distance travelled by the load is less than in Fig 1, although in both cases, the effort moves by the same one turn. Since the load moves less in Fig 2, less effort is also needed.

In conclusion, for screws, the more the number of threads there is, OR the smaller the pitch, OR the more gradual the slope of the threads, the less the effort is needed to move the load.



Again, like the screw, the smaller the pitch, the less the ends of the ‘V’ move towards each other, which also means the less the distance the load moves.

Like the screw, for the screw jack, the more the number of threads there is, OR the smaller the pitch, OR the more gradual the slope of the threads, the less effort is needed to move the load.

Take note that for the screw jack, while the mechanism of the inclined plane is used to lift the vehicle off the ground, the handle of the screw jack works on the principle of the wheel and axle. In this case, the handle is the wheel, while the screw of the jack (the part with the threads) is the axle.


Important note to parents and students – The purpose of the above 4 illustrations is to help students understand the mechanics of the inclined plane. Most schools’ practice papers and science textbooks do not use the terms ‘pitch’ or ‘threads’. Those terms are technical terms used in the heavy and light industries.

In trying to make the illustration as simple as possible, I have found that I cannot avoid using those technical terms. The use of the above terms is to assist the student (or parent) to understand the mechanics of screws and screw jacks.

Take note that markers who will be marking your Science PSLE Paper, in all likelihood have been teachers all their lives and may not have worked in industries before, and would probably not be familiar with the terms ‘pitch’ and ‘threads’.

In other words, it is highly advised that you do not use the terms ‘pitch’ and ‘threads’, unless you are able to draw and label the diagrams as accurately as the above.