Screw

A screw is an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder, forming the path and
pitch. It must consist of at least two full rotations from where it started. In
our project, we made the screw out of a plastic tube, which we wrapped
around a piece of wood two full times. We are using it to start our project by
dropping a marble down the tube and rolling through, and eventually falling
into a bucket on one side of a pulley.

Pulley
A pulley is a lever consisting of a wheel with a groove in its rim which is used
to change the direction and magnitude of a force exerted by a rope or cable.
We made our pulley completely out of Kinex. In our project, we are using the
pulley to catch a marble rolling through the screw on one side, and when
that happens it pulls up a wedge on the other side.

Inclined Plane
An inclined plane is a flat surface set at an angle or incline with no moving
parts. It is used to lift objects by pushing or pulling the load. We made our
inclined plane out of a piece of a cardboard box set at an angle. It is being
used to allow a car to roll down the incline after a wedge blocking it is pulled
up.

Wedge
A wedge is essentially a moving inclined plane, and it tapers to a thin edge,
which is used for splitting, raising heavy bodies, or for tightening. Our wedge
is made out of a piece of wood that was cut into this shape. It is taped to
fishing line on one side of the pulley. We are using the wedge to, when a
marble is dropped on one side of the pulley, be raised up by the pulley, and
let the car that it was blocking roll down the inclined plane.

Lever
A lever is a rigid bar used to exert pressure or sustain a weight at one point
of its length by the application of a force at a second and turning at a third
on a fulcrum. In our SMET project, the lever(s) is made of a domino. This
domino is used to get tipped over, and exerting pressure, knocking into a
marble, which is pushed into the next groups course.

Wheel and Axle

A wheel and axle is a lever arm that is fixed to a shaft, which is called and
axle. They move together to lift or move an item by rolling it. In our project,
the wheel and axle is made of a wooden and plastic car. It is used to roll
down the inclined plane and knock into the lever after being released by the
wedge.