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A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force.[1] In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force.[2] A simple machine uses a single applied force to do work against a single load force. Ignoring friction losses, the work done on the load is equal to the work done by the applied force. They can be used to increase the amount of the output force, at the cost of a proportional decrease in the distance moved by the load. The ratio of the output to the input force is called the mechanical advantage. Usually the term refers to the six classical simple machines which were defined by Renaissance scientists[3] They are the elementary "building blocks" of which all complicated machines are composed.[2][4] For example, wheels, levers, and pulleys are all used in the mechanism of a bicycle. Simple machines fall into two classes; those dependent on the vector resolution of forces (inclined plane, wedge, screw) and those in which there is an equilibrium of torques (lever, pulley, wheel).
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