In this lab, we were challenged to build a compound machine using a trigger, a lever, and a wheel and axle in order to lift a weight at least five inches. Unfortunately, everyone in the group missed the part where we had to build a lever until the instructor pointed it out, so our final design is not as clear cut as we would have liked.
The way the final design ended up working was that a lever at the top of the machine rotated to pull out an Allen wrench which served as our trigger. A weight consisting of one wheel and three large gears than falls and forcefully rotates the gears. When the machine is set, a loop is set over the large gear so that when the gear rotates, the loop slips off, as it is attached to a weight of three tires. The weight then pulls up the single tire about six inches by means of a pulley.
It is definitely not the neatest contraption, but it serves its purpose.
It is definitely not the neatest contraption, but it serves its purpose.