These homemade pulleys work great as long as they glide freely over the coat hanger wire (meaning that if you give them a spin, they keep spinning for a few more seconds). You can adjust the amount of friction in the pulley by adjusting the where the metal wire bends after it emerges from the pulley.
[am4show have='p8;p9;p14;p41;p88;p92;' guest_error='Guest error message' user_error='User error message' ] All you need is a wire coathanger, a thread spool, and a pair of vice grips... and the video below.
Download Student Worksheet
Cut a wire coat-hanger at the lower points (at the base of the triangular shape) and use the hook section to make your pulley. Thread both straight ends through a thread spool, crossing in the middle, and bend wire downwards to secure spool in place. Be sure the spool turns freely. Use hook for easy attachment. (These pulleys work well for the return-pulley system experiment in this section.)
If you still have trouble, you can purchase pulleys from the hardware store, or more inexpensively, from a farm supply store. (We get ours from the chicken coup section – no kidding!) If you really want to go hog-wild with pulleys, get a bunch and clip them onto climbing-rated carabineer. [/am4show]
[am4show have='p8;p9;p14;p41;p88;p92;' guest_error='Guest error message' user_error='User error message' ] All you need is a wire coathanger, a thread spool, and a pair of vice grips... and the video below.
Download Student Worksheet
Cut a wire coat-hanger at the lower points (at the base of the triangular shape) and use the hook section to make your pulley. Thread both straight ends through a thread spool, crossing in the middle, and bend wire downwards to secure spool in place. Be sure the spool turns freely. Use hook for easy attachment. (These pulleys work well for the return-pulley system experiment in this section.)
If you still have trouble, you can purchase pulleys from the hardware store, or more inexpensively, from a farm supply store. (We get ours from the chicken coup section – no kidding!) If you really want to go hog-wild with pulleys, get a bunch and clip them onto climbing-rated carabineer. [/am4show]
There really aren’t any good alternatives. You will need a spool for this experiment.
What else would work instead of a spool?
You can use the hook at the top to set it in place, then throw a rope around the spool, and you have a pulley! What you do with it it totally up to you. My kids used theirs in the tree house in the backyard and connected the other end in the house for me to put pancakes in on Sunday mornings so they could breakfast outside without going up and down the ladder. It had a little basket attached to the rope, and the pulley was attached to the tree house rail.
Do you have information somewhere on what you do with this coathanger pully after you build it? How do you rig it to be used as a pully?
Thanks
Shawnie
Thanks for your question! My team is getting in touch with you so they can help you get started with the program… 🙂
Hey Arora this comment is not about the xprament sorry if that was spellt wrong. Anyway i havent been on the website in a while.and i’m a part of e sience WHAT am i supost to do? thanks for your time Mia age 8
All the pulley experiments are here. Which one did you like?
Hi Aurora,
Thank you so much for all of the work you’ve put into this course. I am new and still learning my way around. Where do I find the directions for the cool pully that you are holding in your hand in the video?
Thank you,
Javette