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Simple Machines: Practice Questions with Answers

Curriculum: Simple MachinesGrades: 6–8Questions: 12Mode: Practice

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1. What is a simple machine?

  1. A device that requires electricity to operate
  2. A basic device that changes the size or direction of a force to make work easier
  3. A machine made of many small moving gears
  4. A tool that can only be used to lift heavy objects
Show the answer
Answer: B. A basic device that changes the size or direction of a force to make work easier
Simple machines are basic tools with few or no moving parts that change the size or direction of a force, making a task easier to do even though the total work is not reduced.

2. Which of these is one of the six classic simple machines?

  1. Lever
  2. Circuit
  3. Battery
  4. Motor
Show the answer
Answer: A. Lever
The lever is one of the six simple machines, along with the wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw.

3. A seesaw on a playground is an example of which simple machine?

  1. Screw
  2. Wedge
  3. Pulley
  4. Lever
Show the answer
Answer: D. Lever
A seesaw is a lever: it has a rigid bar that pivots on a fixed point called a fulcrum, letting one side push down to lift the other side up.

4. What do we call the fixed point that a lever pivots around?

  1. Wedge tip
  2. Thread
  3. Axle
  4. Fulcrum
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Answer: D. Fulcrum
The fulcrum is the fixed pivot point of a lever, around which the lever arm rotates when force is applied.

5. An inclined plane, such as a ramp, makes lifting easier mainly by:

  1. Reversing the direction of gravity so that the object is pulled up the slope
  2. Increasing the distance over which force is applied, so less force is needed at any moment
  3. Making the object being moved weigh less as it rests on the tilted surface
  4. Removing the need for any force, since objects on a ramp roll up the slope by themselves
Show the answer
Answer: B. Increasing the distance over which force is applied, so less force is needed at any moment
A ramp lets you push an object up a longer sloped path instead of lifting it straight up, so you apply less force over a greater distance to do the same amount of work.

6. A doorstop or an axe blade works as which type of simple machine?

  1. Lever
  2. Wheel and axle
  3. Screw
  4. Wedge
Show the answer
Answer: D. Wedge
A wedge is a device with a thick end and a thin, sharp edge that splits or holds objects apart by concentrating force into a small area, as seen in an axe blade or a doorstop.

7. Which simple machine is essentially an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder?

  1. Screw
  2. Wedge
  3. Lever
  4. Pulley
Show the answer
Answer: A. Screw
A screw is formed by wrapping an inclined plane, or ramp, around a central cylinder, which is why turning a screw a small amount can move it forward or backward a controlled distance.

8. A flagpole rope running over a wheel at the top of the pole is an example of a:

  1. Inclined plane
  2. Wedge
  3. Screw
  4. Pulley
Show the answer
Answer: D. Pulley
A pulley is a wheel with a groove that guides a rope or cable, and it is commonly used to change the direction of a pulling force, such as pulling down to raise a flag.

9. A doorknob that turns a small rod to open a latch is an example of which simple machine?

  1. Wedge
  2. Wheel and axle
  3. Inclined plane
  4. Pulley
Show the answer
Answer: B. Wheel and axle
A wheel and axle consists of a larger wheel attached to a smaller rod, or axle, so that turning the wide wheel with a small force creates a larger turning force on the axle, just like a doorknob turning a latch.

10. Mechanical advantage describes:

  1. How fast a machine can move an object
  2. How much a machine reduces the total work needed for a task
  3. How a machine multiplies or redirects the force you put in
  4. How much electricity a machine uses
Show the answer
Answer: C. How a machine multiplies or redirects the force you put in
Mechanical advantage is the factor by which a simple machine multiplies an input force or changes its direction, making a task feel easier to perform.

11. According to the work-energy idea behind simple machines, if a machine reduces the force you need to apply, what usually happens to the distance over which you apply that force?

  1. The distance also decreases
  2. The distance stays exactly the same
  3. Distance becomes irrelevant
  4. The distance increases
Show the answer
Answer: D. The distance increases
Because work equals force times distance, and a simple machine does not reduce total work, a smaller input force must be applied over a greater distance to move the load the required amount.

12. Which of the following is an example of a compound machine, made of two or more simple machines working together?

  1. A single nail
  2. A flat mirror
  3. A pair of scissors
  4. A brick
Show the answer
Answer: C. A pair of scissors
Scissors combine two levers, the handles and blades pivoting on a central pin, with two wedges, the sharp cutting edges, making them a compound machine.
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