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== How Hammers Work ==

== How Hammers Work ==

A hammer is one example of a "simple" hand tool that is, nevertheless, not an example of a "[[simple machine]]." Although it appears at first glance to be an example of a third-class lever, a hammer will not work without a weighted head. The hammerhead is, in fact, an energy storage device. Kinetic energy is stored in the head over the relatively long time during which the hammer is being swung, then released during the much shorter time when the head strikes the nail. The force applied by the hammer is far higher than the force that is applied if the head simply rests on the nail, and cannot be calculated from lever principles. The hammer is thus one of many relatively simple hand tools that store and release energy through the use of inertia or elasticity.

A hammer is one example of a "simple" hand tool that is, nevertheless, not an example of a "[[simple machine]]." Although it appears at first glance to be an example of a third-class lever, a hammer will not work without a weighted head. The hammerhead is, in fact, an energy storage device. Kinetic energy is stored in the head over the relatively long time during which the hammer is being swung, then released during the much shorter time when the head strikes the nail. The force applied by the hammer is far higher than the force that is applied if the head simply rests on the nail, and cannot be calculated from lever principles. The hammer is thus one of many relatively simple hand tools that store and release energy through the use of inertia or elasticity. By converting mechanical energy into kinetic energy, it may be considered a force amplifier.

The hammer was one part of the symbol of the [[Soviet Union]], the [[hammer and sickle]].

The hammer was one part of the symbol of the [[Soviet Union]], the [[hammer and sickle]].

==References==

==References==