A pulley is a simple machine consisting of a grooved wheel mounted on an axle, through which a rope or cable runs, designed to redirect tension and provide mechanical advantage when lifting or moving loads. Parameters: (1) grooved wheel — the wheel has a channel that guides the rope/cable and prevents it from slipping; (2) axle — the wheel rotates on an axle, which can be fixed (changing direction only) or movable (providing force multiplication); (3) flexible connector — rope, cable, or belt that transmits force around the wheel. Persistence mechanism: physical manufacture from metal, wood, or plastic, passed down through mechanical engineering and everyday use. [formal: pullea | substrate: matter | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.02]
Accepted ontology entry
pulley
A pulley is a simple machine consisting of a grooved wheel mounted on an axle, through which a rope or cable runs, designed to redirect tension and provide mechanical advantage when lifting or moving loads. Parameters: (1) grooved wheel —…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A pulley is a simple machine consisting of a grooved wheel mounted on an axle, designed to redirect tension in a rope or cable and provide mechanical advantage when lifting or moving loads. It is a human-made artifact, constructed from materials such as wood, metal, or composite, and persists as both a physical tool and a conceptual component of classical mechanics.
Names and aliases
- pulleyen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrcnrf6h00vd13vzj5s2ilmhDERIVED_FROM →
Pulleys conceptually derive from levers: a pulley wheel is essentially a circular lever arm, with the axle serving as the fulcrum. Which-came-first test (Law 7): the lever — any stick on a pivot — predates the pulley by millennia as the simplest known machine. The lever fed into the pulley as a conceptual evolution.
- cmru173ob00evv7faw8ip5r83INSTANCE_OF →
A pulley is a specific kind of simple machine — a grooved wheel on an axle redirecting tension. 'A pulley is a simple machine' per Law 9 INSTANCE_OF. Simple-machine is the nearest kind.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Aug 11, 2026, 1:08 AM UTC
- Content hash
- a49521c32b8030f2072754fd4eaafb089bbcdb3e798af7ff4cbc5a686baaa5fd