What
What is a gear?
A toothed wheel on a rotating shaft, working in a pair so motion and turning force pass from one shaft to another without slip.
A gear is a machine component consisting of a toothed wheel attached to a rotating shaft. Britannica Scholars: gear Gears operate in pairs to transmit and modify rotary motion and torque (turning force) without slip. Britannica Scholars: gear The teeth of one gear engage the teeth on a mating gear. Britannica Scholars: gear
Most gears are circular. Britannica Scholars: gear To transmit motion smoothly and with a nonvarying speed ratio at every instant, the contacting surfaces of gear teeth must be carefully shaped to a specific profile. Britannica Scholars: gear
The smaller of a gear pair is called the pinion. Britannica Scholars: gear
The shafts that gears connect must be relatively close, but they may be parallel or nonparallel, and intersecting or nonintersecting. Britannica Scholars: gear
The next step is the useful one: count the teeth, and you can say how the pair will share speed and turning force.