Grade 5 Simple Machines worksheet
from Gradelings · Name: ______________________
How to explain it
- The six simple machines: lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge and screw.
- A lever turns on a fulcrum, like a seesaw. A ramp is an inclined plane.
- To lift to the same height, a longer ramp needs less force, but you push it farther.
Example: A 2 m ramp and a 5 m ramp reach the same height. Which needs less force? A longer ramp is less steep. Less steep means less force, over a longer distance. Answer: the 5 m ramp
Question 1
These ramps all lift a box to the same height. Order them from LEAST force needed to MOST.
- 📐3 m ramp
- 📐5 m ramp
- 📐4 m ramp
- 📐2 m ramp
5 m ramp → 4 m ramp → 3 m ramp → 2 m ramp
Hint: For the same height, a longer ramp is gentler, so it needs less force. The trade-off: you push the box a longer distance.
Question 2
What pattern does this data show?
Force needed to pull a cart up ramps that are all 50 cm high Ramp length Force needed (N = newtons) 1 m 12 N 2 m 6 N 3 m 4 N 4 m 3 N - ramp length doesn't change the force
- longer ramps need more force
- longer ramps need less force
- shorter ramps are always easier
longer ramps need less force
Hint: As you read down the table, the ramps get longer and the force gets smaller.
Question 3
A doorknob is which simple machine?
🚪- inclined plane
- wedge
- wheel and axle
- pulley
wheel and axle
Hint: The knob (the wheel) turns a rod (the axle) that moves the latch. A small turn of the big knob does the job easily.
Question 4
In science, work is done when…
- you push on a wall that doesn't move
- you think hard about a problem
- an object stays perfectly still
- a force moves an object over a distance
a force moves an object over a distance
Hint: Work needs both a force and movement. Pushing a wall that doesn't move does no work, even if you get tired!
Question 5
A single fixed pulley at the top of a flagpole doesn't reduce the force you need. How does it help?
🚩- it changes the direction of the force, so you pull down to lift up
- it makes the rope shorter
- it doubles your force
- it makes the flag lighter
it changes the direction of the force, so you pull down to lift up
Hint: Pulling down is easier than climbing up and lifting. A fixed pulley changes the direction of your force.
Question 6
Pulley or screw? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: 🏗️ pulley · 🔩 screw
- 🧺clothesline that runs on two wheels
- 🚩flagpole rope
- 🍾corkscrew
- 🧴twist-off bottle cap
- 🛗elevator cable
- 💡light bulb base
🏗️ pulley: clothesline that runs on two wheels, flagpole rope, elevator cable · 🔩 screw: corkscrew, twist-off bottle cap, light bulb base
Hint: A pulley is a grooved wheel with a rope. A screw is a ramp (inclined plane) wrapped around a post.
Question 7
What is a wedge made of?
- two levers joined at a fulcrum
- a wheel attached to a rod
- two inclined planes back to back
- a rope over a grooved wheel
two inclined planes back to back
Hint: Look at an axe head from the side: two sloping surfaces meet at a sharp edge. Each slope is an inclined plane.
Question 8
Which simple machines are in a pair of scissors?
✂️- inclined planes only
- levers and wedges
- wheels and axles
- pulleys and screws
levers and wedges
Hint: Each half of the scissors is a lever turning on the pivot in the middle, and the sharp blades are wedges.
Question 9
Which ramp needed the least force?
Force needed to pull a cart up ramps that are all 50 cm high Ramp length Force needed (N = newtons) 1 m 12 N 2 m 6 N 3 m 4 N 4 m 3 N - 2 m ramp
- 4 m ramp
- 3 m ramp
- 1 m ramp
4 m ramp
Hint: Find the smallest force in the table. Then look across to see which ramp it belongs to.
Question 10
Lever, wedge, or wheel and axle? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: ⚖️ lever · 🔺 wedge · ⚙️ wheel and axle
- 🚪doorstop
- 🎛️doorknob
- 🎡Ferris wheel
- 🔧crowbar
- 🪓axe blade
- 🍾bottle opener
⚖️ lever: crowbar, bottle opener · 🔺 wedge: doorstop, axe blade · ⚙️ wheel and axle: doorknob, Ferris wheel
Hint: A lever turns on a fulcrum. A wedge is thin at one edge to split, cut or hold. A wheel and axle is a wheel joined to a rod that turns with it.
Answer key
- 1. 5 m ramp → 4 m ramp → 3 m ramp → 2 m ramp
- 2. longer ramps need less force
- 3. wheel and axle
- 4. a force moves an object over a distance
- 5. it changes the direction of the force, so you pull down to lift up
- 6. 🏗️ pulley: clothesline that runs on two wheels, flagpole rope, elevator cable · 🔩 screw: corkscrew, twist-off bottle cap, light bulb base
- 7. two inclined planes back to back
- 8. levers and wedges
- 9. 4 m ramp
- 10. ⚖️ lever: crowbar, bottle opener · 🔺 wedge: doorstop, axe blade · ⚙️ wheel and axle: doorknob, Ferris wheel
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