Moss & Cog Workshop
Simple machines make jobs easier by trading force for distance or changing the direction of a force; they do not remove the load's weight or create energy.
PhysicsAges 8-13~10 min🎙️ Voice tutor
Play freeNo account needed
What your child will figure out
- Choose a lever, inclined plane, pulley, or wheel-and-axle system to match a physical job.
- Place a lever fulcrum or choose a ramp slope and predict how the setup changes required effort.
- Use supporting ropes, lever arms, ramp ratios, and turning radii as visible evidence of mechanical advantage.
- Transfer the force-distance trade to generated workshop jobs while adaptive practice responds to accuracy, speed, and hints.
The levels
- Free the jammed engine
Predict, place, run, observe, and explain how a lever with its fulcrum near the load trades a longer hand path for less effort.
- Roll the boiler upstairs
Predict and observe why a long gentle inclined plane needs less force over a greater distance than a steep ramp.
- Hoist the skylight
Predict the effort for a moving pulley and explain that supporting rope sections share the load while the pull travels farther.
- Wake the great workshop door
Transfer the force-distance relationship to a novel wheel-and-axle gear train and explain the advantage of a larger turning radius.
Ready when they are.
Play Moss & Cog Workshop free — no account, no card.
Play Moss & Cog Workshop free