Gears

Introduction
• A gear is a wheel with teeth on its outer edge.
• Gears rotate on a central axis.
• The teeth of one gear mesh with or engage
the teeth of another gear - transmitting rotary
motion.
• Gears are used to change the torque, speed,
and direction of rotation.
 Driver and Driven

• The driver (or input) gear

would be the gear that is
moved by a crank handle
or motor.
• The driver’s teeth engage
the teeth of the driven
Direction of Rotation (or output) gear, causing
• Two meshed gears always
rotate in opposite it to rotate.
directions.
 Gear Ratio
• A gear ratio is the ratio used to determine the
angular speed and torque of a geared system.

Number of driven teeth : Number of driver teeth

Also written as:

Driven teeth
Driver teeth

• If a set of gears has a driver and driven gearof the

same size. The gear ratio would be 1:1.
• This causes a change in the direction of the motion
with no change to speed or torque.
 Example
Find the Gear ratio for the following gear set.

Fill in the following blanks:

If the driving gear turns 1 time, the driven gear will
turn _______ times.

Driving gear has

30 teeth

Driven gear has

10 teeth
 Gear Ratio Practice

Find the Gear Ratios for these examples:

1. A 5-tooth gear driving a 45-tooth gear.

9/1 or 9:1

2. A 3-tooth gear driving a 12-tooth gear.

4/1 or 4:1

3. A 12-tooth gear driving a 3-tooth gear.

1/4 or 1:4
 Gearing Up: Need for Speed
• To increase the speed the
driver should be larger
than the driven gear.
• Example: The driver gear
has 60 teeth and the
driven gear is 30 teeth.
• Gear ratio = 30/60 = ½ or
1:2
• This means that for every
1 turn of the driver gear,
the driven will rotate 2
times.
 Gearing Up: Need for Speed
• With this 1:2 ratio, the speed
of the driven gear is 2 times
greater than the input.
Why Gear Up?
• Using the top gear on your
bike, you can make the back
wheel spin faster than you
can pedal.
• A fan’s blades can whir at a
greater speed than the
electric motor that drives it.
 Gearing Down: Pulling Torque
• To increase the torque the driver
should be smaller than the driven.
• The force translated from the driver
gear to the driven gear is the same.
• However, the driven gear has a
longer lever arm, therefore the
torque is larger for the driven gear.
• Example: The driven torque is
multiplied by the gear ratio which is
3/1 . Therefore, the torque of the
driven gear is 3 times greater than
the torque of the driver gear. Gear ratio = 75/25 = 3/1
 Gearing Down: Pulling Torque
Why Gear Down?
• Need to pull a tree
stump out of the
ground? You’ll need a
machine with lots of
pulling torque.
Tractors are geared for
tasks like this.
 Speed and Torque
• Torque and speed are inversely proportional.
• 1A. This gearing increases
the speed but decreases the
torque.

• 1B. This gearing increases

the torque, but decreases
the speed.
 Chain and Sprocket System
• A chain and sprocket is
a gear system where
the gears are not in
physical contact with
each other. Instead
they are connected by
a chain.
• The same principle of gear ratio applies to
chain and sprocket systems.
Gearing Example
 Review
You can calculate Gear Ratio by dividing the number of teeth on
the Driven Gear by the number of teeth on the Driving Gear.

# teeth on Driven Gear

Gear Ratio =
# teeth on Driving Gear
 Gears Are Like People

Little Ones
Have To Move
Faster To Keep Up
with The Big Ones
Possible VEX gear ratios
 Gear Trains
• Sometimes the driver and follower must
rotate the same direction.
• Inserting an idler gear between the driver and
follower is the simplest way to achieve this.
 Gear Ratio of Gear Trains
• In gear trains the ratio will change from set to
set. Multiplying the gear ratio for each set of
gears will give you the net gear ratio for the
train.
• In a gear train with each gear on a separate
axle the idler gears can be ignored. Therefore
the net gear ratio can still be found by:
Driven teeth
Driver teeth
 Example:

• The driving gear has 30 teeth, the idler gear

has 90 teeth and the driven gear has 15 teeth.
– The ratio for A:B is 3/1; the ratio for B:C is 1/6.
Net gear ratio = 3/1 x 1/6 = 1/2.
– Ignoring the idler gears results in the same gear
ratio. A:C = 15/30 = 1/2
 Gear Ratio of Gear Trains
• In a gear train in which some gears share the
same axle the gear ratio must be found by
multiplying each individual gear ratio.
 Example:

• Find the ratios for each set of gears.

– A:B is 40/120 = 1/3
– C:D is 20/80 = 1/4
– The net gear ratio = 1/3 x 1/4 = 1/12.
 Gear Ratios
and
Calculating Speed
 Calculating the Speed of a Gear Train
• Use the gear ratio to
determine the speed of
the driven gear.
• Rotational speed is
given in revolutions per
minute (RPM).
• In the example to the
right the gear ratio is ½
or 1:2. 60 RPM
 Calculating the Speed of a Gear Train
• A 1:2 gear ratio means
that every 1 turn of the
driver gear causes the
driven gear to rotate 2
times.
• If the driver turns at 60
RPM then the driven gear
must turn at
2 x 60 RPM
= 120 RPM
60 RPM
• Large gears driving small
gears speed them up.
 Calculating the Speed of a Gear Train
• In this example the gear
ratio is 3:1 or 3/1 which
means for every 3 turns
of the driver gear the
driven gear turns 1 time.
• If the driver turns at 60
RPM then the driven gear
must turn at
60 RPM / 3 60 RPM
= 20 RPM
• Small gears driving large
gears slow them down.
 Calculating the Speed of a Gear Train
• Find the gear ratio for the
gears at the right.

• Find the speed of the driven

gear if the speed of the
driving gear is 120 RPM. 120 RPM
 Calculating the Speed of a Gear Train
• Find the gear ratio for the
gears at the right. (Notice the
driver is on the right.)

• Find the speed of the driven

gear if the speed of the
driving gear is 120 RPM.
120 RPM
 Gear Ratios
and
Calculating Torque
Calculating the Torque of a Gear Train
• Multiply the gear ratio
by the torque of the
driver gear to
determine the torque
on the driven gear.
• Torque is given in Nm.
• In the example to the
right the gear ratio is ½
or 1:2. 6 Nm
Calculating the Torque of a Gear Train
• Remember that the force
on the driven gear is the
same as the force on the
driver, however because the
driven gear has a smaller
radius the torque on the
driven gear is smaller.
• If the driver has a torque of
6 Nm and the gear ratio is
1/2, then the driven gear
torque can be calculated by:
6 Nm x ½
= 3 Nm 6 Nm
• Large gears driving small
gears decrease the torque.
 Calculating the Torque of a Gear Train
• In this example the gear
ratio is 3:1 or 3/1.
• If the driver turns at 60
RPM then the driven
gear must turn at
6 Nm x 3
= 18 Nm
6 Nm
• Small gears driving large
gears increase torque.
 Calculating the Torque of a Gear Train
• Find the gear ratio for the
gears at the right.

• Find the torque of the driven

gear if the torque of the
driving gear is 5 Nm. 5 Nm
 Calculating the Torque of a Gear Train
• Find the gear ratio for the
gears at the right. (Notice the
driver is on the right.)

• Find the torque of the driven

gear if the torque of the
driving gear is 40 Nm. 40 Nm