What Are the 6 Simple Machines in the Pinball Machine?

Inclined Plane

• The inclined plane simple machine is in many places in the modern-day pinball machine. The pinball machine's table is a plane surface that slants downward from the back of the game toward the front, where a player can lose his pinball and end his turn. Many versions of the game also include multiple miniature inclined planes throughout the playing surface and leading into scoring possibilities.

Wedge

• A wedge is a simple machine that is located in flippers throughout the game. The flippers' work is accomplished by their attachment to a rotating screw, allowing them to hit a pinball within the playing field. This works by transferring the energy from the wide part of the wedge to a pinball on the thinner part of the wedge.

Screw

• Screws are located throughout a pinball machine. While a screw may not always be seen, it holds the game's parts together. Without this simple machine, the pinball game would not work because all of its pieces and parts would fall apart.

Lever

• A lever is a plane that balances on a central point or fulcrum. This simple machine is evident in some pinball machines throughout the playing field. A likely location is in scoring elements and tasks throughout the game that increase the difficulty of play.

Pulley

• A pulley is in the various elements that bounce a pinball back and forth in rapid succession. A pulley is a band or wire looped over a wheel. It is used to change the direction of a force. This is what happens to the pinball in the game when it bounces off various fixed pulleys.

Wheel

• A wheel rotating on an axle may evident throughout the playing surface of a pinball machine. This simple machine can turn the flippers or provide a scoring option. It is not to be confused with a pulley, which uses an axis.