680:, which produce circular holes in solids. The two edges of a drill bit are sharpened, at opposing angles, into a point and that edge is wound around the shaft of the drill bit. When the drill bit spins on its axis of rotation, the wedges are forced into the material to be separated. The resulting cut in the material is in the direction of rotation of the drill bit, while the helical shape of a bit allows the removal of the cut material.
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209:, to form a bifacial edge, or wedge. A wedge is a simple machine that transforms lateral force and movement of the tool into a transverse splitting force and movement of the workpiece. The available power is limited by the effort of the person using the tool, but because power is the product of force and movement, the wedge amplifies the force by reducing the movement. This amplification, or
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A wedge will bind when the wedge included angle is less than the arctangent of the coefficient of friction between the wedge and the material. Therefore, in an elastic material such as wood, friction may bind a narrow wedge more easily than a wide one. This is why the head of a splitting maul has a
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is a compound inclined plane, consisting of two inclined planes placed so that the planes meet at one edge. When the edge where the two planes meet is pushed into a solid or fluid substance, it overcomes the resistance of materials to separate by transferring the force exerted against the material
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the greater the ratio of the lifting force to the applied force on the wedge. This is the mechanical advantage of the wedge. This formula for mechanical advantage applies to cutting edges and splitting operations, as well as to lifting.
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for those kinds of tasks. The blade of the knife allowed humans to cut meat, fibers, and other plant and animal materials with much less force than it would take to tear them apart by simply pulling with their hands. Other examples are
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of a wedge is given by the ratio of the length of its slope to its width. Although a short wedge with a wide angle may do a job faster, it requires more force than a long wedge with a narrow angle.
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is the ratio of the input speed to output speed. For a wedge, this is given by 1/tanα, where α is the tip angle. The faces of a wedge are modeled as straight lines to form a sliding or
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and chisels can separate thick and hard materials, such as wood, solid stone and hard metals and they do so with much less force, waste of material, and with more precision, than
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719:(door wedge) functions largely because of the friction generated between the bottom of the door and the wedge, and the wedge and the floor (or other surface).
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Consider a block that is to be lifted by a wedge. As the wedge slides under the block, the block slides up the sloped side of a wedge. This lifts the weight
816:, or narrow, the angle of a wedge, the greater the ratio of the length of its slope to its width, and thus the more mechanical advantage it will yield.
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The blade's first known use by humans was the sharp edge of a flint stone that was used to cleave or split animal tissue, e.g. cutting meat. The use of
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The force is applied on a flat, broad surface. This energy is transported to the pointy, sharp end of the wedge, hence the force is transported.
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Cross-section of a splitting wedge with its length oriented vertically. A downward force produces forces perpendicular to its inclined surfaces.
156:. It can be used to separate two objects or portions of an object, lift up an object, or hold an object in place. It functions by converting a
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are also wedges, as they split and separate the material into which they are pushed or driven; the shafts may then hold fast due to friction.
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The velocity of the block is related to the velocity of the wedge by the slope of the side of the wedge. If the angle of the wedge is
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Wedges have existed for thousands of years. They were first made of simple stone. Perhaps the first example of a wedge is the
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The wedge simply transports energy in the form of friction and collects it to the pointy end, consequently breaking the item.
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544:, used to finely adjust the distance between objects is called a gib, and is commonly used in machine tool adjustment.
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The mechanical advantage or MA of a wedge can be calculated by dividing the height of the wedge by the wedge's width:
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286:. If we assume the wedge does not dissipate or store energy, then the power into the wedge equals the power out.
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364:{\displaystyle {\frac {F_{\mathrm {B} }}{F_{\mathrm {A} }}}={\frac {v_{\mathrm {A} }}{v_{\mathrm {B} }}}.}
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Wedges are used to lift heavy objects, separating them from the surface upon which they rest.
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515:{\displaystyle MA={\frac {F_{\mathrm {B} }}{F_{\mathrm {A} }}}={\frac {1}{\tan \alpha }}.}
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needed to lift the block is obtained by considering the velocity of the wedge
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wedges that swelled after being saturated with water were also used. Some
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They can also be used to separate objects, such as blocks of cut stone.
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wedges were used to break away blocks of stone used in construction.
920:, Third Ed., Sybil P. Parker, ed., McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1992, p. 2041.
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An elementary treatise on analytic mechanics: with numerous examples
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431:{\displaystyle v_{\mathrm {B} }=v_{\mathrm {A} }\tan \alpha ,\!}
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and splitting wedges are used to split wood along the grain.
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Concise Encyclopedia of Science & Technology
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into two opposing forces normal to the faces of the blade.
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Wedges can also be used to hold objects in place, such as
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applied to its blunt end into forces perpendicular (
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802:{\displaystyle {\rm {MA={Length \over Width}}}}
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243:wedges for splitting and working wood to make
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936:. Cambridge University Press. p. 321.
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637:or other metals led to the development of
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132:A wood splitting wedge
21:Wedge (disambiguation)
16:Triangular shaped tool
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845:Log splitter
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48:Please help
43:verification
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875:Wheel chock
835:Drawing pin
186:Flint hand
1039:Categories
881:References
678:drill bits
603:March 2021
201:(see also
192:Winchester
142:triangular
106:March 2021
76:newspapers
1045:Mechanics
812:The more
717:door stop
706:eccentric
574:does not
504:α
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422:α
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190:found in
824:See also
671:crushing
665:Wedges,
648:scissors
225:quarries
199:hand axe
865:Scalpel
711:), and
700:parts (
698:bicycle
692:parts (
656:chisels
595:removed
580:sources
178:History
144:shaped
90:scholar
65:"Wedge"
1009:Pulley
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870:Sickle
690:engine
660:planes
639:knives
245:canoes
241:antler
233:Wooden
229:bronze
162:normal
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1050:Tools
1019:Wedge
1014:Screw
1004:Lever
814:acute
713:doors
702:stems
644:plows
627:blade
549:nails
542:taper
378:then
239:used
207:flint
158:force
140:is a
138:wedge
97:JSTOR
83:books
938:ISBN
840:Froe
704:and
667:saws
658:and
652:axes
635:iron
625:The
578:any
576:cite
146:tool
69:news
696:),
589:by
498:tan
416:tan
289:Or
188:axe
52:by
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489:=
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401:=
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351:B
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328:=
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263:B
260:F
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94:·
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80:·
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