Re: Simple Machines: three or six?


"Lew Hartswick" <lhartswick@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:VcOdnZ0teMEnj7fUnZ2dnUVZ_trinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
RangersSuck wrote:

OK, the Kid Down The Street came to me with a project. He has to make
something with all SIX(!) simple machines.

So, I said to him, "There are only THREE simple machines. The lever,
the wheel and the inclined plane."

"No," he said, "there are SIX simple machines. The lever, the wheel
and axle, the wedge, the pulley, the screw and the inclined plane."

"Bull***!" says I, "A pulley is just a wheel (and maybe, when you add
in a rope, it's got a little lever mixed in), a wedge is just an
inclined plane and a screw is just an inclined plane wrapped around a
wheel."

"Look it up." says the Smart Ass Down The Street.

So, I googled "Simple Machines" and, lo and behold, it appears that
they are teaching kids about these SIX things - the original three
plus the three inbred cousins.

What the ***?
I guess there are 2 (two) possible problems here.
1 The abominable education of our teachers and the other,
2 The posibility of the products of above procedures puting such
"information" on the internet. Especially the infamous
"Wickipedia", or however you spell it.
...lew...

Jesus, Lew, you're quick to dismiss teachers' educations.

"Y" can be a vowel (myth, glyph) and "w" can be a vowel (cow, in which ow is
a diphthong, but the w results in the same sound as a u). The cases of "y"
being a vowel are mostly spelling artifacts, in which a modern spelling
would result in the use of "i." The "w's" used as vowels are mostly
diphthongs.

Those facts are connected to the reason that they seldom do the "sometimes y
and sometimes w" thing these days. Both letters are overwhelmingly used as
consonants, and when they are used as vowels, it's in an odd usage that
usually represents an ancient spelling. One way to look at that is that they
are vowels only when they are used incorrectly according to today's rules of
spelling. d8-)

The English teachers today know what they're doing. *Our* English teachers
just weren't very clear thinkers. Most of them probably couldn't have given
the explanation above.

--
Ed Huntress


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