According to the definition, both forces and motions are transmitted and modified in a machine. The way in which the parts of a machine are interconnected and guided to produce a required output motion from a given input motion is known as the mechanism of the machine. The piston, connecting rod, and crankshaft in a reciprocating engine constitute a mechanism for changing the rectilinear motion of the piston into the rotary motion of the crankshaft.
Although both forces and motions are involved in the operation of machines, the primary function of a machine may be either the amplification of force or the modification of motion. A lever is essentially a force increaser, while a gearbox is most often used as a speed reducer. The motions and forces in a machine are inseparable, however, and are always in an inverse ratio. The output force on a lever is greater than the input force, but the output motion is less than the input motion. Similarly, the output speed of a gear reducer is less than the input speed, but the output torque is greater than the input torque. In the first case a gain in force is accompanied by a loss in motion, while in the second case a loss in motion is accompanied by a gain in torque.
Although the primary function of some machines can be identified, it would be difficult to classify all machines as either force or motion modifiers; some machines belong in both categories. All machines, however, must perform a motion-modifying function, since if the parts of a mechanical device do not move, it is a structure, not a machine.
While all machines have a mechanism, and consequently perform a motion-modifying function, some machines do not have a planned force-modifying purpose; the forces that exist are caused by friction and the inertia of the moving masses and do not appear as a useful output effort. This group would include measuring instruments and clocks.
In the science of mechanics, “work” is something that forces do when they move in the direction in which they are acting, and it is equal to the product of the average force and the distance moved. If a man carries a weight along a horizontal path, he does no work according to this definition, since the force and the motion are at right angles to one another; that is, the force is vertical and the motion horizontal. If he carries the weight up a flight of stairs or a ladder, he does work, since he is moving in the same direction in which he is applying a force. Mathematically, if F equals force (in newtons) and S equals distance (in feet or metres), work is then equal to the applied force F multiplied by the distance this force moves S, or WORK = F × S.
When a force causes a body to rotate about a fixed axis, or pivot, the work done is obtained by multiplying the torque (T) by the angle of rotation.
These concepts of work are fundamental in defining the mechanical work function of machines in terms of forces and motions, and they bring out the inseparability of forces and motions in machines. Because of friction, the work output from a machine is always less than the work input, and the efficiency, which is the ratio of the two, is always less than 100 percent.
The ratio of the output to input forces is the mechanical advantage (MA), and it defines the force-modifying function, while the ratio of the input to output motions is the velocity ratio (VR), and it defines the motion-modifying function. When the efficiency is high, these ratios are approximately equal; if the output force is 10 times the input force, the input motion must be 10 times the output motion; i.e., what is gained in force is lost in motion. Friction affects the mechanical advantage but not the velocity ratio (except in some mechanisms using belts and idler pulleys).
To calculate the efficiency from the ratio of output to input work, it would be necessary to know the work done by the output and input forces over a specified distance. Since this would entail the determination of average forces over the interval, it would be inconvenient. The efficiency of a machine is more easily determined from instantaneous values of load and the rate at which the load is moving. For this purpose, power formulas are most useful.
Power is the rate at which work is done. If a man carries a 10-pound (4.5-kilogram) weight a vertical height of 12 feet (3.66 m)—i.e., up a ladder or stairs—in half a minute, his power expenditure is 10 × 12 or 120 foot-pounds in half a minute; his rate of doing work is then 240 foot-pounds per minute.
The unit of power or rate of doing work in English-speaking countries is the horsepower (hp), which is equal to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute, so that 240 foot-pounds per minute equals 240/33,000 = 0.00727 horsepower.
In dealing with simple force-amplifying machines such as the lever and the wheel and axle, it is convenient to call the input force the “effort” and the output force the “load.” The mechanical advantage is then the ratio of the load to the effort, and the velocity ratio is the motion (displacement or velocity) of the effort divided by the corresponding motion of the load.