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Building Mechanical Advantage with Gears

One larger gear rotation results many smaller gear rotations

Different Sizes and Types of Gears

A gear's circumference has a direct impact on how the gear transmits torque and speed. When two gears are meshed a mechanical advantage is produced if the circumference of the gears differs. This results in a change to the speed and torque of the axles attached to the gears. This change is proportional to the number of teeth in the gear. The animation above shows one large gear on the bottom and a smaller gear meshed at the top. As the larger gear turns one time, you will see the smaller gear turn a total of seven times.

VEX gears have teeth of the same size and spacing. This helps to prevent slippage between gears, ensuring that the attached axles are always synchronized with each other. Having similarly sized and spaced teeth also enables the user to determine the gear ratio.