Gear Train
This exhibit features a gear train with a 1000-to-1 gear ratio. You have to turn the small wooden wheel 1000 times to get the large ship's wheel to turn once. However, the force needed to turn the small wheel is 1000 times less than the force needed to turn the big wheel. Therefore, it’s 1000 times easier to turn the small wheel than the big wheel.With gears, Work = Force x Distance
This is How the Equation Works:
Think of the distance as the distance around the outside of the gear. If two gears engage each other and are the same size, the amount of work is equal to the force. If one gear is ½ the size of the other, then it will take twice as much effort to move the smaller gear by turning the larger gear. You could also say it would take the smaller gear half as much force to move the larger one.