The Inclined Plane Explained
The Inclined Plane Explained
by Katie,Hannah,and Jad
The South Hadley Canal Inclined Plane was a device used to move shipping boats from a lower level to a higher level. The inclined plane was used to transport boats over a fifty foot drop over the South Hadley Falls. This was done by installing a ramp that slanted upwards at a 13.5 degree angle. By using a cart with three sizes of wheels( to make the cart level against the 13.5 degree angle), a set of large pulleys, and a length of chains boats could be pulled up the ramp while keeping paralel to the ground. This system of raising water crafts over the canal was used from 1795( the year the inclined plane was completed) until 1862, when its use was no longer needed because of the new network of railroads and other means of transportation and trade. For this project, our group was asked to build a model of the inclined plane used at the South Hadley Canal. To do this we used a cardboard box that had been cut into usable pieces. Next, we taped together certain pieces at the 13.5 degree angle that was already mentioned with duct tape. We made a small carboard box to represent a boat that might have traveled over the inclined plane on a cart. Finally, by using a spool of string attached to the cart and to the top of the ramp, we had created a working model of an inclined plane. The diagram below shows a much more detailed and complicated formula for creating an inclined plane.
