3 ms·

Ha! I wonder (having no mechanical engineering background) ... is it possible to to drive e.g. a tank up a hill using a lego motor with a large enough gear rat

Ha! I wonder (having no mechanical engineering background) ... is it possible to to drive e.g. a tank up a hill using a lego motor with a large enough gear ratio?

layoutIfNeeded 6y ago
No, because the plastic gears connected to the drive wheel would snap under the immense torque.
- omginternets 6y ago
  Right, sure. In my mind, I was more interested in the relationship between gear-ratios, torque and the displacement of weight. What if the motor gears were infinitely strong? That is: is the power output of a small electric motor theoretically sufficient to drive a tank up a hill with an arbitrarily large gear ratio?
  - rland 6y ago
    Certainly. It would just happen arbitrarily slowly. (And, at that scale, other factors would come into play; the soil would deform under the wheels of the tank before it moved any distance, probably)
  - simias 6y ago
    You can trade torque for speed basically. So yes. "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world". That being said it would be so slow that you'd probably break something before you've moved a millimeter. The same Youtube channel demonstrates how to use gear reduction to increase torque and bend a steel bar with legos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRn5waE0qfk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRn5waE0qfk
  - Someone 6y ago
    Yes. it would be equivalent to Archimedes’ claim “Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes#The_Lever https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes#The_Lever)
jonahrd 6y ago
This channel is a treasure trove for answer to similar questions: [1] Can lego break a steel axle? [2] How much load can the smallest lego gear handle? [3] Testing lego gear and pulley systems [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRn5waE0qfk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRn5waE0qfk [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjhOGoZ-bNI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjhOGoZ-bNI [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgTRHH656Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgTRHH656Y

Ha! I wonder (having no mechanical engineering background) ... is it possible to to drive e.g. a tank up a hill using a lego motor with a large enough gear ratio?

layoutIfNeeded 6y ago

No, because the plastic gears connected to the drive wheel would snap under the immense torque.

omginternets 6y ago
Right, sure. In my mind, I was more interested in the relationship between gear-ratios, torque and the displacement of weight. What if the motor gears were infinitely strong? That is: is the power output of a small electric motor theoretically sufficient to drive a tank up a hill with an arbitrarily large gear ratio?
- rland 6y ago
  Certainly. It would just happen arbitrarily slowly. (And, at that scale, other factors would come into play; the soil would deform under the wheels of the tank before it moved any distance, probably)
- simias 6y ago
  You can trade torque for speed basically. So yes. "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world". That being said it would be so slow that you'd probably break something before you've moved a millimeter. The same Youtube channel demonstrates how to use gear reduction to increase torque and bend a steel bar with legos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRn5waE0qfk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRn5waE0qfk
- Someone 6y ago
  Yes. it would be equivalent to Archimedes’ claim “Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes#The_Lever https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes#The_Lever)

jonahrd 6y ago

This channel is a treasure trove for answer to similar questions: [1] Can lego break a steel axle? [2] How much load can the smallest lego gear handle? [3] Testing lego gear and pulley systems [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRn5waE0qfk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRn5waE0qfk [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjhOGoZ-bNI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjhOGoZ-bNI [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgTRHH656Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgTRHH656Y