A wood splitting wedge

A wedge is a triangular shaped tool, and is a portable inclined plane, and one of
the six classical simple machines. It can be used to separate two objects or
portions of an object, lift up an object, or hold an object in place. It functions
by converting a force applied to its blunt end into forces perpendicular (normal)
to its inclined surfaces. The mechanical advantage of a wedge is given by the ratio
of the length of its slope to its width.[1][2] Although a short wedge with a wide
angle may do a job faster, it requires more force than a long wedge with a narrow
angle.

Contents
1 History
2 Use of a wedge
3 Blades and wedges
4 Examples for holding fast
5 Mechanical advantage
6 See also
7 References
History

Flint hand axe found in Winchester

Perhaps the first example of a wedge is the hand axe, also see biface and
Olorgesailie. Wedges have been around for thousands of years, they were first made
of simple stone. A hand axe is made by chipping stone, generally flint, to form a
bifacial edge, or wedge. A wedge is a simple machine that transforms lateral force
and movement of the tool into a transverse splitting force and movement of the
workpiece. The available power is limited by the effort of the person using the
tool, but because power is the product of force and movement, the wedge amplifies
the force by reducing the movement. This amplification, or mechanical advantage is
the ratio of the input speed to output speed. For a wedge this is given by 1/tana,
where a is the tip angle. The faces of a wedge are modeled as straight lines to
form a sliding or prismatic joint.

The origin of the wedge is not known. In ancient Egyptian quarries, bronze wedges
were used to break away blocks of stone used in construction. Wooden wedges that
swelled after being saturated with water, were also used. Some indigenous peoples
of the Americas used antler wedges for splitting and working wood to make canoes,
dwellings and other objects.

Use of a wedge
Wedges are used to lift heavy objects, separating them from the surface upon which
they rest.[3]

Consider a block that is to be lifted by a wedge. As the wedge slides under the
block, the block slides up the sloped side of a wedge. This lifts the weight FB of
the block. The horizontal force FA needed to lift the block is obtained by
considering the velocity of the wedge vA and the velocity of the block vB. If we
assume the wedge does not dissipate or store energy, then the power into the wedge
equals the power out.

or

{\displaystyle {\frac {F_{\mathrm {B} }}{F_{\mathrm {A} }}}={\frac {v_{\mathrm

{A} }}{v_{\mathrm {B} }}}.} {\displaystyle {\frac {F_{\mathrm {B} }}{F_{\mathrm {A}
}}}={\frac {v_{\mathrm {A} }}{v_{\mathrm {B} }}}.}
The velocity of the block is related to the velocity of the wedge by the slope of
the side of the wedge. If the angle of the wedge is a then
{\displaystyle v_{\mathrm {B} }=v_{\mathrm {A} }\tan \alpha ,\!} {\displaystyle
v_{\mathrm {B} }=v_{\mathrm {A} }\tan \alpha ,\!}
which means that the mechanical advantage

{\displaystyle MA={\frac {F_{\mathrm {B} }}{F_{\mathrm {A} }}}={\frac {1}{\tan

\alpha }}.} {\displaystyle MA={\frac {F_{\mathrm {B} }}{F_{\mathrm {A} }}}={\frac
{1}{\tan \alpha }}.}
Thus, the smaller the angle a the greater the ratio of the lifting force to the
applied force on the wedge. This is the mechanical advantage of the wedge. This
formula for mechanical advantage applies to cutting edges and splitting operations
as well as to lifting.

They can also be used to separate objects, such as blocks of cut stone. Splitting
mauls and splitting wedges are used to split wood along the grain. A narrow wedge
with a relatively long taper used to finely adjust the distance between objects is
called a shim, and is commonly used in carpentry.

The tips of forks and nails are also wedges, as they split and separate the
material into which they are pushed or driven; the shafts may then hold fast due to
friction.

Blades and wedges

The blade is a compound inclined plane, consisting of two inclined planes placed so
that the planes meet at one edge. When the edge where the two planes meet is pushed
into a solid or fluid substance it overcomes the resistance of materials to
separate by transferring the force exerted against the material into two opposing
forces normal to the faces of the blade.

The blade's first known use by humans was the sharp edge of a flint stone that was
used to cleave or split animal tissue, e.g. cutting meat. The use of iron or other
metals led to the development of knives for those kinds of tasks. The blade of the
knife allowed humans to cut meat, fibers, and other plant and animal materials with
much less force than it would take to tear them apart by simply pulling with their
hands. Other examples are plows, which separate soil particles, scissors which
separate fabric, axes which separate wood fibers, and chisels and planes which
separate wood.

Wedges, saws and chisels can separate thick and hard materials, such as wood, solid
stone and hard metals and they do so with much less force, waste of material, and
with more precision, than crushing, which is the application of the same force over
a wider area of the material to be separated.

Other examples of wedges are found in drill bits, which produce circular holes in
solids. The two edges of a drill bit are sharpened, at opposing angles, into a
point and that edge is wound around the shaft of the drill bit. When the drill bit
spins on its axis of rotation, the wedges are forced into the material to be
separated. The resulting cut in the material is in the direction of rotation of the
drill bit while the helical shape of a bit allows the removal of the cut material.

Examples for holding fast

Wedges can also be used to hold objects in place, such as engine parts (poppet
valves), bicycle parts (stems and eccentric bottom brackets), and doors. A wedge-
type door stop (door wedge) functions largely because of the friction generated
between the bottom of the door and the wedge, and the wedge and the floor (or other
surface).

Mechanical advantage
Cross-section of a splitting wedge with its length oriented vertically. A downward
force produces forces perpendicular to its inclined surfaces.
The mechanical advantage of a wedge can be calculated by dividing the height of the
wedge by the wedge's width:[1]

{\displaystyle {\rm {MechanicalAdvantage={Length \over Width}}}} {\displaystyle

{\rm {MechanicalAdvantage={Length \over Width}}}}
The more acute, or narrow, the angle of a wedge, the greater the ratio of the
length of its slope to its width, and thus the more mechanical advantage it will
yield.[2]

However, in an elastic material such as wood, friction may bind a narrow wedge more
easily than a wide one. This is why the head of a splitting maul has a much wider
angle than that of an axe.