The inclined plane is one of the classical simple machines; as the name suggests, it is a flat surface whose endpoints are at different heights. By moving an object up an inclined plane rather than directly from one height to another, the amount of force required is reduced, at the expense of increasing the distance the object must travel. The mechanical advantage of an inclined plane is the ratio of the length of the sloped surface to the height it spans; this may also be expressed as the sine of the angle between the plane and the horizontal. Note that due to the conservation of energy, the same amount of mechanical energy is required to lift a given object by a given distance, if frictional losses are ignored. In physics, a simple machine is any device that only requires the application of a single force to work. ... In physics and engineering, mechanical advantage (MA) is the factor by which a mechanism multiplies the force put into it. ... In mathematics, the trigonometric functions are functions of an angle, important when studying triangles and modeling periodic phenomena. ... Look up conservation of energy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In physics, mechanical energy describes the potential energy and kinetic energy present in the components of a mechanical system. ... For other uses, see Friction (disambiguation). ...

Examples of inclined planes

Examples where "inclined planes" are to be found: ramp, sloping roads and hills, windshield, funnel, water slide, chisels, hatchets, plows, air hammers, carpenter's planes, and wedges. The most canonical example of an inclined plane is a sloped surface; for example a roadway to bridge a height difference. Another simple machine based on the inclined plane is a blade, where two inclined planes placed back to back allow the two parts of the cut object to move apart using less force than would be needed to pull them apart in opposite directions. Other examples: aircraft wings, helicopter rotors, propellers used in aircraft, boats or pumps, windmills, water wheels, turbine blades, rotary fan blades, and machine screws, a ramp that is attached to the back of the moving van, or a children's slide. The word ramp can mean one of several things: Inclined plane A ramp is the area around an airport terminal where aircraft are loaded and unloaded. ... Steel woodworking chisel. ... A carpenters hatchet See Hatchet (novel) for the young adult novel. ... For the constellation known as The Plough see Ursa Major. ... // Air Hammer is a fictional character from the Transformers universe. ... A Japanese plane in use A plane is a tool for shaping wood. ... Technically a portable double inclined plane, a wedge is a simple machine used to separate two objects, or portions of objects, through the application of force, perpendicular to the inclined surfaces, developed by conversion of force applied to the wide end. ... For other uses, see Road (disambiguation). ... This article is about the edifice (including an index to articles on specific bridge types). ... A blade is the flat part of a tool or weapon that normally has a cutting edge and/or pointed end typically made of a metal, most recently, steel intentionally used to cut, stab, slice, throw, thrust, or strike an animate or inainimate object. ... Flying machine redirects here. ... For other uses, see Wing (disambiguation). ... A rotor is the rotating part of a helicopter which generates lift, either vertically in the case of a main rotor, or horizontally in the case of a tail rotor. ... For other uses, see Propeller (disambiguation). ... A Dutch tower windmill, sporting sails, surrounded by tulips A windmill is an engine powered by the wind to produce energy, often contained in a large building as in traditional post mills, smock mills and tower mills. ... An overshot water wheel standing 42 feet high powers the Old Mill at Berry College in Rome, Georgia A water wheel (also waterwheel, Norse mill, Persian wheel or noria) is a hydropower system; a system for extracting power from a flow of water. ... A Siemens steam turbine with the case opened. ... For other uses, see Fan. ... Screws come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different purposes. ...

Physics inclined plane problem

Key:
N = Normal force that is perpendicular to the plane
m = Mass of object
g = Acceleration due to gravity
θ (theta) = Angle of elevation of the plane, measured from the horizontal
f = frictional force of the inclined plane

The inclined plane gives rise to a common elementary physics exercise. Consider an object placed on an inclined plane, and describe mathematically the forces acting upon that object. There are three forces acting on the body (neglecting air resistance): Image File history File links Free_body. ... Image File history File links Free_body. ... Fn represents the normal force. ... For other uses, see Mass (disambiguation). ... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ... Look up Θ, θ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Friction (disambiguation). ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external fluid flow. ...

1. The normal force ('N') exerted by the plane onto the body,
2. the force due to gravity ('mg' - acting vertically downwards) and
3. the frictional force ('f') acting parallel to the plane.

The gravitational force may be visualised as two components: A force parallel to the plane ('mgSinθ') and a force acting into the plane ('mgCosθ') which is equal and opposite to 'N'. If the force acting parallel to the plane ('mgSinθ') is greater than the frictional force 'f' - then the body will slide down the inclined plane - otherwise it will remain stationary. Fn represents the normal force. ... For other uses, see Friction (disambiguation). ...

When the slope angle ('θ') is zero, sinθ is also zero so the body does not move.

External links

• An interactive simulation of Physics inclined plane