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A parachute is a large piece of fabric you attach to yourself if you know you are going to fall a very long way and want to land safely. Parachutes slow down the speed of your fall by creating drag.
Parachutes are used by skydivers, to slow down racing cars and space shuttles, and for dropping supplies to stranded people from a plane so the supplies don't break on the way down.
Parachutes are used by skydivers, to slow down racing cars and space shuttles, and for dropping supplies to stranded people from a plane so the supplies don't break on the way down.
A parasol is a kind of smaller umbrella that is designed to keep off the sun rather than the rain.
A pedal is a device that you operate with your foot. Pedals are found on all sorts of devices, like pianos, electronic keyboards and an assortment of other musical instruments, sewing machines, and of course bicycles.
A peg is something you use to hold wet clothes to a line so it can dry after it has been washed. Modern pegs are usually made of wood or plastic and have a spring in them so they hold shut tightly.
A pendulum is something heavy suspended from a fixed point on the end of a long, thin rod. Pendulums are swung backwards and forwards, and are commonly seen in old fashioned clocks like grandfather clocks.
P is for Pipe (Smoke)
A plough is a device for breaking up the soil in a field or garden before crops are planted. Ploughing the soil makes it softer and easier for plants to grow, and turns the soil over so any vegetation leftover from an earlier crop will go underground and add nutrients to the soil.
Ploughs used to make one furrow at a time and were pulled by horses like in the picture. Today they can make dozens of furrows at a time and are pulled by tractors.
Ploughs used to make one furrow at a time and were pulled by horses like in the picture. Today they can make dozens of furrows at a time and are pulled by tractors.
A plunger is a device made up of a rubber cup on the end of a stick. The cup is put over a drain and pushed up and down to break up blockages in plumbing.
P is for Protractor
A pulley, also called a block and tackle, is a device that can change the direction of a force (ie, pulling downwards to raise something up), or can make it much easier to move something. You can use a pulley to move something very heavy by pulling a rope or chain through the pulley much further than you would without the pulley, but the load feels much lighter while you do it. Pulleys are used frequently in the rigging of ships.
A stereo, or radio is a device for playing recorded music from tapes, CDs, or listening to music that is broadcasted through the air on radio waves.
R is for Refrigerator
R is for Remote control
Remote controls work by sending a signal in a beam of invisible light to the device they control. The device has a sensor on it so it can 'see' that light. This is why remote controls work best when there is nothing in between the remote control and the thing you are trying to control.
A robot is a mechanical device that appears to be able to move around and do things by itself. Robots are usually programmed by a computer so this is not strictly true. Robots are mainly used as toys, in factories, and to go places that people cannot go, like deep underwater or on other planets.