Simple Machines: three or six?

has to make

The lever,

the wheel

inclined plane."

when you add

just an

wrapped around a

appears that

original three

Scary ain't it! We're in trouble with that educational train of thought, or lack of. Perhaps the student who sticks to the basic three machines and can explain why will get extra credit? I'm curious as to how these 'teachers' attempt to explain 'centrifugal force' , or how to 'push a rope' or pick up a turd by the clean end. phil

Don't feel bad. I had to learn all 7 vowels.... now they claim only

What happened to the "sometimes Y and W" From the late 30s till 1949 it was: A E I O U and sometimes Y and W. :-) ...lew...

I guess there are 2 (two) possible problems here.

Never heard of "sometimes W" Gerry :-)} London, Canada

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

You probably had a better grade-school education than we did.

What they should have told us is that Y and W are consonants, but, because of some spelling artifacts in standard English, they occasionally stand in for certain vowels. They have no unique vowel sounds of their own. They just fill in for others in some antique spellings.

That is, unless you're Welsh, in which case almost anything can be a vowel, and the more of them you string together, the better. d8-)

-- Ed Huntress

Such as "PYX"? Mike in BC

I married one 51 years ago while she was still an undergrad. :-) ...lew...

The only reference I see to "pyx" is a Latin transliteration from Greek, first used in English in the 13th century. If that's what you're referring to, then yes, that's an ancient spelling artifact. If it were coined today, it would be "pix."

-- Ed Huntress

You've got me beat. I've only had mine for 34 years and she's hardly broken in. d8-)

However, she was a high-flying retail buyer in those days, who traveled to Europe on fashion-buying trips. Now, at least I can count on her being home.

-- Ed Huntress

The Pyx (1973) More at IMDb Pro Her business is pleasure. Until her date with ... The Pyx.

Gosh, Karen Black is 69..

That's not something I'm going to chase down, but it sounds like a coinage with an intentional antiquarian twist, or an allusional or double meaning, like "Myst."

The original "pyx" was some kind of wooden box with religious significance.

-- Ed Huntress

You can look for currently 28 (!) basic mechanisms. The 28th being the Newbould Indexer.

Here is a some interesting reading on the 28th basic mechanism, and how it came to be..

It is the small case that priests use to carry the consecrated communion wafer in. They carry them around when they are visiting the sick.

Eight years of penguins and Jesuits leaves one with a lot of arcane knowledge.

Paul K. Dickman

So a pyx is a holy breadbox. d8-)

-- Ed Huntress

A rose by a different name?

Do any of you machinists out there remember a number of years ago (10? 20?) someone declared, and others agreed, there was a new "Simple Machine" discovered?

IIRC it was a pair of roller bearings which were kept in contact by an "S" shapped spring, and this measured "zero" rolling resistance when used between two planes.

What ever happened to this idea? I never saw it developed.

dennis in nca

I don't call myself a machinist, but I remember that thing... it could be used for a thermostat among other things. I'd guess more than 20 years ago.

Ah, thanks to Google.. the "Rolamite", ca. 1968 (40 years!):

Or just about any word ending in a consonant followed by 'y', like 'fairy' or 'fairly'.

Not necessarily wooden (in fact, I've never seen a wooden one), used to carry a consecrated host (on sick calls, for instance).

I'm trying to think of an example of 'w' as a vowel...