Page 15 - Inventions - A Visual Encyclopedia (DK - Smithsonian)
P. 15
DISK WHEEL
The earliest wheels to be used for
transportation were solid disks made from
wooden planks. They were attached to simple Handle used
carts, wagons, and chariots that were pulled for pushing or
by horses or oxen. Travel on these vehicles pulling cart
would have been rough and bumpy.
Chinese
wheelbarrow
WHEELBARROW
The wheelbarrow may have been invented either EARLY BREAKTHROUGHS
in ancient Greece between the 6th–4th centuries
bce or in China during the 2nd century ce. While
the Greek wheelbarrow had a wheel toward the
front, as many barrows do today, the Chinese
placed the wheel in the middle.
PRAYER WHEELS
Prayer wheels are an important
part of Buddhism, one of the
world’s major religions. These
wheels are hollow metal
cylinders containing a scroll
printed with a mantra (a holy
verse or phrase). Buddhists
believe that spinning the
wheel, or letting it turn in
the wind, is the same as
saying a prayer out loud.
WHEEL AND AXLE
In most vehicles today, the wheels driven by the engine are attached
to cylindrical shafts, or axles. When the vehicle moves, the shafts and
wheels rotate together. The axles of the other wheels are attached to
the vehicle and move with it. On the earliest vehicles, all the axles were
attached to the wheels.
2. The wheel
slides smoothly
around the axle.
1. The axle
moves with 3. The wheel
Model of wheel shaped the vehicle. rolls, so there
from three wooden is little friction.
planks, c. 2000 bce
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