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{{Short description|Circular component rotating on an axle}} {{other uses|Wheel (disambiguation)|Wheels (disambiguation)}} {{pp|small=yes}} {{pp-move}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} [[File:Landesmuseum Württemberg Kelten 011.4.jpg|thumb|Spoked wheel of reconstructed Celtic funerary wagon, 550 BC, [[Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave]], Germany]] A '''wheel''' is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an [[axle]] [[Bearing (mechanical)|bearing]]. The wheel is one of the key components of the [[wheel and axle]] which is one of the [[Simple machine|six simple machines]]. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be moved easily facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load, or performing labor in machines. Wheels are also used for other purposes, such as a [[ship's wheel]], [[steering wheel]], [[potter's wheel]], and [[flywheel]]. Common examples can be found in [[transport]] applications. A wheel reduces [[friction]] by facilitating motion by [[rolling]] together with the use of [[axle]]s. In order for wheels to rotate, a [[Moment (physics)|moment]] needs to be applied to the wheel about its axis, either by way of gravity or by the application of another external force or [[torque]]. ==Terminology== The English word ''[[:wikt:wheel|wheel]]'' comes from the [[Old English]] word {{lang|ang|hwēol}}, from [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] {{lang|gem-x-proto|*hwehwlaz}}, from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] {{lang|ine-x-proto|*k<sup>w</sup>ék<sup>w</sup>los}},<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=wheel |encyclopedia=Online Etymology Dictionary |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wheel |access-date=28 March 2007 |archive-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703044245/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wheel |url-status=live}}</ref> an extended form of the root {{lang|ine-x-proto|*k<sup>w</sup>el-}} {{gloss|to revolve, move around}}. Cognates within Indo-European include [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] {{lang|is|hjól}} {{gloss|wheel, tyre}}, [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|κύκλος}} {{transliteration|grc|kúklos}}, and [[Sanskrit]] {{transliteration|sa|[[chakra]]}}, the last two both meaning {{gloss|circle}} or {{gloss|wheel}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=wheel&submit.x=42&submit.y=19 |title=American Heritage Dictionary Entry: wheel |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company |access-date=26 November 2012 |archive-date=20 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720080559/http://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=wheel&submit.x=42&submit.y=19 |url-status=live}}</ref> ==History== The place and time of the invention of the wheel remains unclear, because the oldest hints do not guarantee the existence of real wheeled transport,{{clarify|date=March 2025}} or are dated with too much scatter. The invention of the solid wooden disk wheel falls into the late [[Neolithic]], and may be seen in conjunction with other technological advances that gave rise to the early [[Bronze Age]]. This implies the passage of several wheel-less millennia even after the [[Neolithic Revolution|invention of agriculture]] and of [[pottery]], during the [[Aceramic Neolithic]]. * 4500–3300 BCE ([[Chalcolithic|Copper Age]]): invention of the [[potter's wheel]]; earliest solid wooden wheels (disks with a hole for the axle); earliest wheeled vehicles * 3300–2200 BCE ([[Early Bronze Age]]) * 2200–1550 BCE ([[Middle Bronze Age]]): invention of the [[spoke]]d wheel and the [[chariot]]; [[domestication of the horse]] [[File:Ljubljana Marshes Wheel with axle (oldest wooden wheel yet discovered).jpg|thumb|This [[Ljubljana Marshes Wheel]] with axle is the oldest wooden wheel yet discovered dating to [[Copper Age]] (c.{{nbsp}}3130 BCE)]] The [[Halaf]] culture of 6500–5100 BCE is sometimes credited with the earliest depiction of a wheeled vehicle, but there is no evidence of Halafians using either wheeled vehicles or pottery wheels.<ref>{{cite book |title=New Light on the Most Ancient East |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215014 |author=V. Gordon Childe |year=1928 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215014/page/n129 110]}}</ref> Potter's wheels are thought to have been used in the 4th millennium BCE in the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Roux |first1=Valentine |last2=de Miroschedji |first2=Pierre |date=2009 |title=Revisiting the History of the Potter's Wheel in the Southern Levant |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/007589109X12484491671095 |journal=Levant |language=en |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=155–173 |doi=10.1179/007589109X12484491671095 |issn=0075-8914|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The oldest surviving example of a potter's wheel was thought to be one found in [[Ur]] (modern day [[Iraq]]) dating to approximately 3100 BCE.<ref name="Moorey1994">{{cite book |last=Moorey |first=Peter Roger Stuart |date=1999 |orig-year=1994 |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Ixuott4doC |location=Winona Lake, IN |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-042-2 |page=146 |access-date=26 October 2017 |archive-date=17 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017215042/https://books.google.com/books/about/Ancient_Mesopotamian_Materials_and_Indus.html?id=P_Ixuott4doC |url-status=live}}</ref> However, a potter's wheel found in [[western Ukraine]], of the [[Cucuteni–Trypillia culture]], dates to the middle of the 5th millennium BCE which pre-dates the earliest use of the potter's wheel in Mesopotamia.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Haarmann |first=Harald |author-link=Harald Haarmann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkL_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |title=Advancement in Ancient Civilizations: Life, Culture, Science and Thought |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-4766-4075-4 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |pages=40 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chandler |first=Graham |date=August 2017 |title=Why Reinvent the Wheel? |url=https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/July-2017/Why-Reinvent-the-Wheel |journal=AramcoWorld |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=28–33 |issn=1530-5821}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Standage |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Standage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoQWEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |title=A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-63557-361-9 |location=New York |pages=2–5 |language=en |oclc=on1184237267}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Schier |first1=Wolfram |title=The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe |date=2015 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-954584-1 |editor-last1=Fowler |editor-first1=Chris |pages=113 |chapter=Chapter 5: Central and Eastern Europe |editor-last2=Harding |editor-first2=Jan |editor-last3=Hofmann |editor-first3=Daniela |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2PAkBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA113}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bulliet |first=Richard W. |author-link=Richard W. Bulliet |url=https://archive.org/details/the-wheel-inventions-and-reinventions-0231173385-9780231173384-9780231540612_compress/page/6 |title=The Wheel: Inventions And Reinventions |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-231-54061-2 |series= |location=New York |pages=6, 51–70 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Holm, Hans J. J 2019">Holm, Hans J. J. G.: The Earliest Wheel Finds, their Archaeology and Indo-European Terminology in Time and Space, and Early Migrations around the Caucasus. Series Minor 43. ARCHAEOLINGUA ALAPÍTVÁNY, Budapest, 2019. {{ISBN|978-615-5766-30-5}}.</ref> Wheels of uncertain dates have been found in the [[Indus Valley civilization]] of the late 4th millennium BCE covering areas of present-day India and [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization: Being an Official Account of Archaeological Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro Carried Out by the Government of India Between the Years 1922 and 1927, Volume 1 |page=554 |author=John Marshall |publisher=Asian Education Services |year=1996 |isbn=9788120611795}}</ref> The oldest indirect evidence of wheeled movement was found in the form of miniature clay wheels north of the Black Sea before 4000{{nbsp}}BCE. From the middle of the [[4th millennium BCE]] onward, the evidence is condensed throughout [[Europe]] in the form of toy cars, depictions, or ruts, with the oldest find in Northern Germany dating back to around 3400{{nbsp}}BCE.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://techzle.com/ancient-wheel-tracks-in-northern-germany | title=Ancient wheel tracks in Northern Germany | date=15 April 2022 | access-date=19 October 2022 | archive-date=19 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019175829/http://techzle.com/ancient-wheel-tracks-in-northern-germany | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.zenger.news/2022/04/29/wheel-i-never-europes-oldest-stone-age-cart-tracks-found/ | title=Wheel I Never: Europes Oldest Stone Age Cart Tracks Found | date=29 April 2022 | access-date=19 October 2022 | archive-date=19 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019182832/https://www.zenger.news/2022/04/29/wheel-i-never-europes-oldest-stone-age-cart-tracks-found/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Holm, Hans J. J. G. "The Earliest Wheel Finds, Their Archeology and Indo-European Terminology in Time and Space, and Early Migrations around the Caucasus". ''Archaeolingua Alapítvány'', Budapest, 2019, {{ISBN|978-963-9911-34-5}}</ref> In [[Mesopotamia]], depictions of wheeled [[wagon]]s found on [[clay tablet]] [[pictographs]] at the [[Uruk#Eanna District|Eanna district]] of [[Uruk]], in the [[Sumer]]ian civilization are dated to c.{{nbsp}}3500–3350{{nbsp}}BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Attema |first1=P. A. J. |last2=Los-Weijns |first2=Ma |last3=Pers |first3=N. D. Maring-Van der |title=Bronocice, Flintbek, Uruk, Jebel Aruda and Arslantepe: The Earliest Evidence of Wheeled Vehicles in Europe and the Near East |journal=Palaeohistoria |date=December 2006 |volume=47/48 |publisher=[[University of Groningen]] |pages=10–28 (11) |isbn=9789077922187 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqEqjtKJQ3YC&pg=PA11 |access-date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=22 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822123805/https://books.google.com/books?id=qqEqjtKJQ3YC&pg=PA11 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the second half of the 4th{{nbsp}}millennium BCE, evidence of wheeled vehicles appeared near-simultaneously in the Northern ([[Maykop culture]]) and South [[Caucasus]] and [[Eastern Europe]] ([[Cucuteni-Trypillian culture]]). [[File:Ur chariot.jpg|thumb|A depiction of an [[onager]]-drawn cart on the [[Sumer]]ian "War" panel of the [[Standard of Ur]] (c.{{nbsp}}2500 BCE)|left]] Depictions of a wheeled vehicle appeared between 3631 and 3380 BCE in the [[Bronocice pot|Bronocice clay pot]] excavated in a [[Funnelbeaker culture]] settlement in southern [[Poland]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Anthony, David A. |title=The horse, the wheel, and language: how Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |year=2007 |page=67 |isbn=978-0-691-05887-0}}</ref> In nearby [[Zwierzyniec (Kraków)|Olszanica]], a 2.2{{nbsp}}m wide door was constructed for wagon entry; this barn was 40{{nbsp}}m long with three doors, dated to 5000 BCE, and belonged to the [[Neolithic]] [[Linear Pottery culture]].{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} Surviving evidence of a wheel-axle combination, from Stare Gmajne near Ljubljana in Slovenia ([[Ljubljana Marshes Wooden Wheel]]), is dated within two [[standard deviations]] to 3340–3030 BCE, the axle to 3360–3045 BCE.<ref>Velušček, A.; Čufar, K. and Zupančič, M. (2009) "Prazgodovinsko leseno kolo z osjo s kolišča Stare gmajne na Ljubljanskem barju", pp. 197–222 in A. Velušček (ed.). ''Koliščarska naselbina Stare gmajne in njen as. Ljubljansko barje v 2. polovici 4''. tisočletja pr. Kr. Opera Instituti Archaeologici Sloveniae 16. Ljubljana.</ref> Two types of early Neolithic European wheel and axle are known: a [[Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps|circumalpine]] type of wagon construction (the wheel and axle rotate together, as in Ljubljana Marshes Wheel), and that of the [[Baden culture]] in [[Hungary]] (axle does not rotate). They both are dated to c.{{nbsp}}3200–3000 BCE.<ref>Fowler, Chris; Harding, Jan and Hofmann, Daniela (eds.) (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=2PAkBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA109 ''The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229070257/https://books.google.com/books?id=2PAkBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA109 |date=29 December 2016 }} OUP Oxford. {{ISBN|0-19-166688-2}}. p. 109.</ref> Some historians believe that there was a diffusion of the wheeled vehicle from the [[Near East]] to Europe around the mid-4th millennium BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Attema |first1=P. A. J. |last2=Los-Weijns |first2=Ma |last3=Maring-Van der Pers |first3=N. D. |title=Bronocice, Flintbek, Uruk, Jebel Aruda and Arslantepe: The Earliest Evidence of Wheeled Vehicles in Europe and the Near East |journal=Palaeohistoria |date=December 2006 |volume=47/48 |publisher=[[University of Groningen]] |pages=10-28 (19-20) |isbn=9789077922187 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqEqjtKJQ3YC&pg=PA19 |access-date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=22 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822123802/https://books.google.com/books?id=qqEqjtKJQ3YC&pg=PA19 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:India - Kanchipuram - 023 - chariot unveiled for upcoming festival (2507526057).jpg|thumb|Solid wheels on a heavy [[temple car]], contrasted with the lighter [[wire-spoked wheel]]s of the black [[Roadster (bicycle)|roadster bicycle]] in the foreground]] Early wheels were simple wooden disks with a hole for the axle. Some of the earliest wheels were made from horizontal slices of tree trunks. Because of the uneven structure of [[wood]], a wheel made from a horizontal slice of a tree trunk will tend to be inferior to one made from rounded pieces of longitudinal boards. The [[spoke]]d wheel was invented more recently and allowed the construction of lighter and swifter vehicles. The earliest known examples of wooden spoked wheels are in the context of the [[Sintashta culture]], dating to c.{{nbsp}}2000 BCE ([[Krivoye Lake]]). Soon after this, horse cultures of the [[Caucasus]] region used horse-drawn spoked-wheel war [[chariot]]s for the greater part of three centuries. They moved deep into the Greek peninsula where they joined with the existing Mediterranean peoples to give rise, eventually, to classical Greece after the breaking of [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] dominance and consolidations led by pre-classical [[Sparta]] and [[Athens]]. [[Celt]]ic chariots introduced an [[iron]] rim around the wheel in the 1st{{nbsp}}millennium BCE. In [[China]], wheel tracks dating to around 2200{{nbsp}}BCE have been found at Pingliangtai, a site of the [[Longshan Culture]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kaogu.cssn.cn/ywb/news/new_discoveries_1/202001/t20200119_5081197.shtml |title=Central China discovers earliest wheel ruts |publisher=Xinhua |access-date=2020-01-20 |archive-date=22 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822123815/http://kaogu.cssn.cn/ywb/news/new_discoveries_1/202001/t20200119_5081197.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> Similar tracks were also found at [[Yanshi]], a city of the [[Erlitou culture]], dating to around 1700 BCE. The earliest evidence of spoked wheels in [[China]] comes from [[Qinghai]], in the form of two wheel hubs from a site dated between 2000 and 1500{{nbsp}}BCE.<ref>Barbieri-Low, Anthony (February 2000) "Wheeled Vehicles in the Chinese Bronze Age (c. 2000–741 B.C.E)", pp. 11-12. ''Sino-Platonic Papers''</ref> Wheeled vehicles were introduced to China from the west.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ramsden |first=Shaun |date=2021 |title=Indo-Europeans in the Ancient Yellow River Valley |url=https://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp311_indo_europeans_china_zhou_dynasty.pdf |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |issue=311 |pages=21–23 |issn=2157-9679 |eissn=2157-9687}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rawson |first=Jessica |date=2017 |title=China and the steppe: reception and resistance |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/china-and-the-steppe-reception-and-resistance/C8CFF543119597721F43956F2EDB4A28 |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=91 |issue=356 |pages=375–388 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2016.276 |issn=0003-598X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Linduff |first1=Katheryn M. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ancient-china-and-its-eurasian-neighbors/B968699731758994BA2704D1864DF5EF |title=Ancient China and its Eurasian Neighbors: Artifacts, Identity and Death in the Frontier, 3000–700 BCE |last2=Sun |first2=Yan |last3=Cao |first3=Wei |last4=Liu |first4=Yuanqing |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-41861-4 |location=Cambridge |pages=54 |doi=10.1017/9781108290555}}</ref> In Britain, a large wooden wheel, measuring about {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} in diameter, was uncovered at the [[Must Farm]] site in East Anglia in 2016. The specimen, dating from 1,100 to 800 BCE, represents the most complete and earliest of its type found in Britain. The wheel's hub is also present. A horse's spine found nearby suggests the wheel may have been part of a horse-drawn cart. The wheel was found in a settlement built on stilts over wetland, indicating that the settlement had some sort of link to dry land.<ref name = BBCMF2016>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35598578 |title=Bronze Age wheel at 'British Pompeii' Must Farm an 'unprecedented find' |publisher=BBC |access-date=2016-02-18 |archive-date=9 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109203927/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35598578 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:Remojadas Wheeled Figurine.jpg|thumb|A figurine featuring the [[New World]]'s independently invented wheel. Among the places where wheeled toys were found, [[Mesoamerica]] is the only one where the wheel was never put to practical use before the 16th century.|left]] Although large-scale use of wheels did not occur in [[Pre-Columbian era|the Americas prior to European contact]], numerous small wheeled artifacts, identified as children's toys, have been found in Mexican archeological sites, some dating to approximately 1500 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Wheeled Toys in Mexico |jstor=275722 |last=Ekholm |first=Gordon F. |journal=American Antiquity |volume=11 |number=4 |pages=222–28 |date=April 1946 |doi=10.2307/275722|s2cid=163472346 }}</ref> Some argue that the primary obstacle to large-scale development of the wheel in the Americas was the absence of domesticated large animals that could be used to pull wheeled carriages.<ref>{{cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared |date=1999 |title=Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies |url=https://archive.org/details/gunsgermssteelfa00diam |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Norton |page=[https://archive.org/details/gunsgermssteelfa00diam/page/237 237] |isbn=978-0-393-31755-8 |access-date=9 November 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326153817/https://archive.org/details/gunsgermssteelfa00diam |url-status=live}}</ref> The closest relative of [[cattle]] present in Americas in pre-Columbian times, the [[American bison]], is difficult to domesticate and was never domesticated by Native Americans; several horse species existed until about 12,000 years ago, but ultimately became extinct.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singer |first=Ben |title=A brief history of the horse in America |publisher=Canadian Geographic Magazine |date=May 2005 |url=http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/ma05/indepth/#cnd |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819083344/http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/ma05/indepth/ |archive-date=19 August 2014}}</ref> The only large animal that was domesticated in the Western hemisphere, the [[llama]], a pack animal, was not physically suited to use as a draft animal to pull wheeled vehicles,<ref>{{cite book |author=Ryder, Thomas |title=The Carriage Journal: Vol 23 No 4 Spring 1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xyg-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA209 |year=1986 |publisher=Carriage Assoc. of America |page=209 |access-date=2 June 2018 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322054603/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xyg-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA209 |url-status=live }}</ref> and use of the llama did not spread far beyond the [[Andes]] by the time of the arrival of Europeans. On the other hand, [[Mesoamerica]]ns never developed the [[wheelbarrow]], the [[potter's wheel]], nor any other practical object with a wheel or wheels.<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/><ref name="smith"/> Although present in a number of toys, very similar to those found throughout the world and still made for children today ("pull toys"),<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/><ref name="smith"/> the wheel was never put into practical use in Mesoamerica before the 16th century.<ref name="encyclopedia.com">{{cite web |last=Chasin Calvo |first=Sherri |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/technology-incas-and-aztecs |title=The Technology of the Incas and Aztecs |publisher=[[Encyclopedia.com]] |access-date=21 August 2021 |archive-date=20 August 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210820230953/https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/technology-incas-and-aztecs |url-status=live |quote=There were no wheeled carts, or even wheelbarrows. Although wheeled toys and decorations have been found at Mesoamerican sites, the wheel was never put to practical use.}}</ref><ref name="smith">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Herman |url=https://ambergriscaye.com/museum/digit4.html |title=Real smart folks, but no wheel |publisher=Dig It |access-date=21 August 2021 |archive-date=20 August 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210820225839/https://ambergriscaye.com/museum/digit4.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Possibly the closest the Mayas came to the utilitarian wheel is the [[spindle whorl]], and some scholars believe that these toys were originally made with spindle whorls and spindle sticks as "wheels" and "axes".<ref name="smith"/> [[Aboriginal Australians]] traditionally used circular discs rolled along the ground for target practice.<ref>{{Cite web |last=koorihistory.com |date=2019-12-01 |title="Aboriginal people never even invented the wheel." |url=https://koorihistory.com/wheel/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=Koori History - Aboriginal History of South Eastern Australia |language=en-AU |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819074912/https://koorihistory.com/wheel/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Nubia]]ns from after about 400{{nbsp}}BCE used wheels for spinning [[pottery]] and as [[water wheels]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E5D71E3BF934A15751C0A962958260 |title=Crafts – Uncovering Treasures of Ancient Nubia |date=27 February 1994 |newspaper=NYTimes.com |access-date=18 September 2017 |archive-date=22 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822123811/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/27/nyregion/crafts-uncovering-treasures-of-ancient-nubia.html |url-status=live}}</ref> It is thought that Nubian waterwheels may have been ox-driven.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://discovermagazine.com/1994/jun/whatthenubiansat393 |title=What the Nubians Ate |work=Discover Magazine |access-date=5 February 2009 |archive-date=1 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301170920/http://discovermagazine.com/1994/jun/whatthenubiansat393 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is also known that Nubians used horse-drawn chariots imported from [[Egypt]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory05fage |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory05fage/page/278 278] |title=The Cambridge History of Africa |last1=Fage |first1=J. D. |last2=Oliver |first2=Roland Anthony |date=1975 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-21592-3 |language=en |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=10 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610192051/https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory05fage |url-status=live}}</ref> Starting from the 18th century in West Africa, wheeled vehicles were mostly used for ceremonial purposes in places like [[Dahomey]].<ref name="Law wheel Africa"/> The wheel was barely used for transportation, with the exception of [[Ethiopia]] and [[Somalia]] in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] well into the 19th century.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Chaves |first1=Isaías |last2=Engerman |first2=Stanley L. |author2-link=Stanley Engerman |last3=Robinson |first3=James A. |year=2012 |title=Reinventing the Wheel: The Economic Benefits of Wheeled Transportation in Early Colonial British West Africa |url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jrobinson/files/the_wheel_in_africa_february_2012.pdf |publisher=[[Weatherhead Center for International Affairs]] |access-date=5 January 2014 |mode=cs1 |page=1 |quote=One of the great technological puzzles of Sub-Saharan African economic history is that wheeled transportation was barely used prior to the colonial period. Instead, head porterage was the main method of transportation. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106032919/http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jrobinson/files/the_wheel_in_africa_february_2012.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="Law wheel Africa">{{cite journal |last1=Law |first1=Robin C. |year=1980 |title=Wheeled Transportation in Pre-Colonial West Africa |journal=Africa |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=249–62 |doi=10.2307/1159117 |jstor=1159117|s2cid=148903113 }}</ref> [[File:TricycleAntique.jpg|thumb|Three spoked wheels on an antique [[tricycle]]]] The spoked wheel was in continued use without major modification until the 1870s, when [[wire-spoked wheel]]s and [[pneumatic tire]]s were invented.<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/research/wheel-and-axle-woi/ bookrags.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527182437/http://www.bookrags.com/research/wheel-and-axle-woi/ |date=27 May 2008 }} – Wheel and axle</ref> Pneumatic tires can greatly reduce rolling resistance and improve comfort. Wire spokes are under tension, not compression, making it possible for the wheel to be both stiff and light. Early radially-spoked wire wheels gave rise to tangentially-spoked wire wheels, which were widely used on cars into the late 20th century. Cast [[alloy wheels]] are now more commonly used; forged alloy wheels are used when weight is critical. The invention of the wheel has also been important for [[technology]] in general, important applications including the [[water wheel]], the [[cogwheel]] (see also [[antikythera mechanism]]), the [[spinning wheel]], and the [[astrolabe]] or [[torquetum]]. More modern descendants of the wheel include the [[propeller]], the [[jet engine]], the [[flywheel]] ([[gyroscope]]) and the [[turbine]]. ==Mechanics and function== {{About|the application to transport|the simple machine|Wheel and axle|section=yes}} A wheeled vehicle requires much less work to move than simply dragging the same weight. The low resistance to motion is explained by the fact that the [[friction|frictional work]] done is no longer at the surface that the vehicle is traversing, but in the [[bearing (mechanical)|bearings]]. In the simplest and oldest case the bearing is just a round hole through which the axle passes (a "[[plain bearing]]"). Even with a plain bearing, the frictional work is greatly reduced because: * The normal force at the sliding interface is same as with simple dragging. * The sliding distance is reduced for a given distance of travel. * The coefficient of friction at the interface is usually lower. Example: * If a 100 kg object is dragged for 10 m along a surface with the [[coefficient of friction]] ''μ'' = 0.5, the [[normal force]] is 981 [[Newton (unit)|N]] and the [[Mechanical work|work]] done (required [[energy]]) is (work=force x distance) 981 × 0.5 × 10 = 4905 [[joule]]s. * Now give the object 4 wheels. The normal force between the 4 wheels and axles is the same (in total) 981 N. Assume, for wood, ''μ'' = 0.25, and say the wheel [[diameter]] is 1000 mm and axle diameter is 50 mm. So while the object still moves 10 m the sliding frictional surfaces only slide over each other a distance of 0.5 m. The work done is 981 × 0.25 × 0.5 = 123 joules; the work done has reduced to 1/40 of that of dragging. Additional energy is lost from the wheel-to-road interface. This is termed [[rolling resistance]] which is predominantly a deformation loss. It depends on the nature of the ground, of the material of the wheel, its inflation in the case of a tire, the net torque exerted by the eventual engine, and many other factors. A wheel can also offer advantages in traversing irregular surfaces if the wheel radius is sufficiently large compared to the irregularities. The wheel alone is not a machine, but when attached to an [[axle]] in conjunction with bearing, it forms the [[wheel and axle]], one of the [[simple machine]]s. A driven wheel is an example of a wheel and axle. Wheels pre-date driven wheels by about 6000 years, themselves an evolution of using round logs as rollers to move a heavy load—a practice going back in pre-history so far that it has not been dated. ==Construction== {{about|the structure of a wheel|the making of wire-spoked wheels|Wheelbuilding|the making of non-wire spoked wheels|Wheel construction|section=yes}} === Rim === {{main|Rim (wheel)}} [[File:AluminumWheel spoke design.jpg|thumb|An [[Aluminium|aluminum]] [[alloy wheel]]]] The '''rim''' is the "outer edge of a wheel, holding the tire".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUE0bazkcxAC&pg=PA722 |title=The Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus |first=Elizabeth |last=Jewel |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-530715-3 |page=722 |access-date=2012-01-04 |archive-date=4 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504123938/https://books.google.com/books?id=fUE0bazkcxAC&pg=PA722 |url-status=live}}</ref> It makes up the outer circular design of the wheel on which the inside edge of the [[tire]] is mounted on vehicles such as [[automobile]]s. For example, on a [[bicycle wheel]] the [[rim (wheel)|rim]] is a large hoop attached to the outer ends of the spokes of the wheel that holds the tire and tube. In the 1st millennium BCE an [[iron]] rim was introduced around the wooden wheels of [[chariot]]s. ===Hub=== The hub is the center of the wheel, and typically houses a [[bearing (mechanical)|bearing]], and is where the spokes meet. A [[hubless wheel]] (also known as a rim-rider or centerless wheel) is a type of wheel with no center [[wikt:hub|hub]]. More specifically, the hub is actually almost as big as the wheel itself. The [[axle]] is hollow, following the wheel at very close [[Engineering tolerance|tolerances]]. === Spokes === {{main|spoke}} [[File:Wheel Iran.jpg|thumb|A spoked wheel on display at The [[National Museum of Iran]], in [[Tehran]]. The wheel is dated to the late 2nd millennium BCE and was excavated at [[Choqa Zanbil]].|left]] A ''spoke'' is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel (the [[Bicycle hub|hub]] where the [[axle]] connects), connecting the hub with the round traction surface. The term originally referred to portions of a log which had been split lengthwise into four or six sections. The radial members of a wagon wheel were made by carving a spoke (from a log) into their finished shape. A [[spokeshave]] is a [[tool]] originally developed for this purpose. Eventually, the term spoke was more commonly applied to the finished product of the [[wheelwright]]'s work, than to the materials used. ====Wire==== {{main|wire wheel}} The [[Rim (wheel)|rims]] of ''wire wheels'' (or "wire spoked wheels") are connected to their hubs by wire [[spoke]]s. Although these [[wire]]s are generally stiffer than a typical [[wire rope]], they function mechanically the same as [[tension (physics)|tensioned]] flexible wires, keeping the rim true while supporting applied loads. Wire wheels are used on most [[bicycle]]s and still used on many [[motorcycles]]. They were invented by aeronautical engineer [[George Cayley]] and first used in bicycles by [[James Starley]]. A process of assembling wire wheels is described as [[wheelbuilding]]. ===Tire/Tyre=== {{main|tire|motorcycle tire|bicycle tire}} [[File:BMW tire.jpg|thumb|A wheel with car tire made by [[BMW]] company]] A '''tire''' (in [[American English]] and [[Canadian English]]) or '''tyre''' (in some [[English in the Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth Nations]] such as UK, [[India]], [[South Africa]], [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]) is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel [[Rim (wheel)|rim]] to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground. The word itself may be derived from the word "tie", which refers to the outer steel ring part of a wooden cart wheel that ties the wood segments together (see [[#Terminology|Etymology]] above). The fundamental materials of modern tires are [[synthetic rubber]], [[natural rubber]], fabric, and wire, along with other compound chemicals. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides [[Traction (engineering)|traction]] while the body ensures support. Before rubber was invented, the first versions of tires were simply bands of metal that fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Today, the vast majority of tires are [[pneumatic]] [[inflatable structure]]s, comprising a doughnut-shaped body of cords and wires encased in rubber and generally filled with compressed air to form an inflatable cushion. Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, such as [[car]]s, [[bicycle]]s, [[motorcycles]], [[truck]]s, [[Heavy equipment (construction)|earthmovers]], and [[aircraft]]. ===Protruding or covering attachments=== Extreme [[Off-roading|off-road]] conditions have resulted in the invention of several types of wheel cover, which may be constructed as removable attachments or as permanent covers. Wheels like this are no longer necessarily round, or have panels that make the ground-contact area flat. Examples include: *[[Snow chains]] - Specially designed chain assemblies that wrap around the tire to provide increased grip, designed for deep snow.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=?p=snow+chains |title=Examples of snow chains |access-date=6 December 2020 |archive-date=12 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212164743/https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=?p=snow+chains |url-status=live }}</ref> *[[Dreadnaught wheel]] - A type of permanently attached hinged panels for general extreme off-road use. These are not connected directly to the wheels, but to each other. *[[Pedrail wheel]] - A system of rails that holds panels that hold the vehicle. These do not necessarily have to be built as a circle (wheel) and are thus also a form of [[Continuous track]]. *A version of the above examples (name unknown to the writer) was commonly used on heavy [[artillery]] during [[World War I]]. Specific examples: [[Cannone da 149/35 A]] and the [[Big Bertha (howitzer)|Big Bertha]]. These were panels that were connected to each other by multiple hinges and could be installed over a contemporary wheel. *[[Continuous track]] - A system of linked and hinged chains/panels that cover multiple wheels in a way that allows the vehicles mass to be distributed across the space between wheels that are positioned in front of / behind other wheels. *"Tire totes" - A bag designed to cover a tire to improve traction in deep snow.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tires.tirerack.com/tires/Tote |title=Examples of "tire totes" |access-date=6 December 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517200408/https://tires.tirerack.com/tires/Tote |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://shop.tesla.com/product/tire-tote |title=Another example of "tire totes" |access-date=6 December 2020 |archive-date=3 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103071434/https://shop.tesla.com/product/tire-tote |url-status=live }}</ref> Truck and bus wheels may block (stop rotating) under certain circumstances, such as brake system failure. To help detect this, they sometimes feature "wheel rotation indicators": colored strips of plastic attached to the rim and protruding out from it, such that they can be seen by the driver in the [[side-view mirror]]s. These devices were invented and patented in 1998 by a Canadian truck shop owner.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Here Is What Those Strips Hanging Off Of Truck Wheels Are For |url=https://jalopnik.com/here-is-what-those-strips-hanging-off-of-truck-wheels-a-1848314282 |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=Jalopnik |language=en-us |archive-date=7 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107161233/https://jalopnik.com/here-is-what-those-strips-hanging-off-of-truck-wheels-a-1848314282 |url-status=live }}</ref> ==Alternatives== While wheels are very widely used for ground transport, there are alternatives, some of which are suitable for terrain where wheels are ineffective. Alternative methods for ground transport without wheels include: {{div col}} *[[Maglev]] *[[Sled]], [[ski]] or [[travois]] *[[Hovercraft]] and [[ekranoplan]]s *[[Walking]] [[pedestrian]], [[Litter (vehicle)]] or a [[Walker (machine)|walking machine]] *[[Horse riding]] *[[Continuous track|Caterpillar tracks]] (operated by wheels) *[[Pedrail]] wheels, using aspects of both wheel and caterpillar track *[[Sphere]]s, as used by [[Dyson (company)|Dyson]] vacuum cleaners and [[hamster ball]]s *[[Screw-propelled vehicle]] {{div col end}} ==Symbolism== [[File:Jain Cosmic Time Cycle.jpg|thumb|The [[wheel of time]] in [[Jainism]].|300x300px]] The wheel has also become a strong cultural and spiritual metaphor for a cycle or regular repetition (see [[chakra]], [[reincarnation]], [[Yin and yang|Yin and Yang]] among others). As such and because of the difficult terrain, wheeled vehicles were forbidden in [[history of Tibet|old Tibet]]. The wheel in ancient [[China]] is seen as a symbol of health and strength and used by some villages as a tool to predict future health and success. The [[diameter]] of the wheel is indicator of one's future health. The [[Kalachakra]] or wheel of time is also a subject in some forms of [[Buddhism]], along with the [[dharmachakra]].<ref>{{cite book |author=John Newman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iGDCQNn0C9oC |title=The Wheel of Time: Kalachakra in Context |publisher=[[Shambhala Publications|Shambhala]] |year=1991 |isbn=978-1-55939-779-7 |editor=Geshe Lhundub Sopa |entry=Blurb/description |access-date=2021-12-09 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322054604/https://books.google.com/books?id=iGDCQNn0C9oC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art,'' p. 524. <br /></ref> The [[winged wheel]] is a symbol of progress, seen in many contexts including the [[coat of arms of Panama]], the logo of the [[Ohio State Highway Patrol]] and the [[State Railway of Thailand]]. The wheel is also the prominent figure on the [[flag of India]]. The wheel in this case represents law ([[dharma]]). It also appears in the [[flag of the Romani people]], hinting to their nomadic history and their Indian origins. The introduction of spoked ([[chariot]]) wheels in the Middle Bronze Age appears to have carried somewhat of a prestige. The [[sun cross]] appears to have a significance in [[Bronze Age religion (disambiguation)|Bronze Age religion]], replacing the earlier concept of a [[solar barge]] with the more 'modern' and technologically advanced [[solar chariot]]. The wheel was also a solar symbol for the [[Ancient Egypt]]ians.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hall |first=Adelaide S. |title=A Glossary of Important Symbols in Their Hebrew: Pagan and Christian Forms |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-59605-593-3 |page=56 |publisher=Cosimo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OxcOmjiAWXAC |access-date=17 October 2015 |archive-date=8 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508012358/https://books.google.com/books?id=OxcOmjiAWXAC&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live}}</ref>{{clear}} In modern usage, the 'invention of the wheel' can be considered as a symbol of one of the first technologies of early civilization, alongside farming and metalwork, and thus be used as a benchmark to grade the level of societal progress.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} Some [[Modern Paganism|Neopagans]] such as [[Wicca]]ns have adopted the [[Wheel of the Year]] into their religious practices.<ref>{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Liz |title=Paganism, part 3: the Wheel of the Year |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2013-07-29 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/29/paganism-part-3-wheel-year-dates |access-date=2021-12-09 |archive-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026082614/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/29/paganism-part-3-wheel-year-dates |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Image:Ezekiel's vision.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Ezekiel's "chariot vision" of [[Ezekiel 1]], by [[Matthaeus Merian]] (1593-1650).]] ==See also== * '''Types''': [[Alloy wheel]], [[Artillery wheel]], [[Ball transfer unit]], [[Bicycle wheel]], [[Caster]], [[Gear|Cogwheel]], [[Dreadnaught wheel]], [[Driving wheel]], [[Flywheel]], [[Hubless wheel]], [[Inline skates#Wheels|Inline skate wheel]], [[Mansell wheel]], [[Mecanum wheel]], [[Motorcycle wheel]], [[Omni wheel]], [[Pedrail wheel]], [[Disteel|Pressed Steel wheel]], [[Skateboard#Wheels|Skateboard wheel]], [[Square wheel]], [[Stairclimber#Stairclimber wheels|Stairclimber wheel]], [[Steering wheel]] ([[Ship's wheel]]), [[Train wheel]], [[Tweel]], [[Wagon wheel (transportation)|Wagon wheel]], [[Wire wheel]] * '''Components''': [[Axle]], [[Bogie]]/[[Skateboard truck|Truck]], [[Differential (mechanical device)|Differential]], [[Drive shaft]], [[Drivetrain]], [[Rim (wheel)|Rim]], [[Snow chains]], [[Spoke]], [[Tire]], [[Wheelset (rail transport)|Wheelset]] * '''Related technologies and concepts''': [[Archimedes screw]], [[Barrel]], [[Breaking wheel]], [[Color wheel]], [[Compact disc]], [[Ferris wheel]], [[Pottery wheel]], [[Propeller]], [[Reinventing the wheel]], [[Spindle whorl]], [[Trackball]], [[Wagon-wheel effect]], [[Water wheel]], [[Wheelbarrow]], [[Wheelie]], [[Wheel of Fortune (disambiguation)|Wheel of Fortune]], [[Wheelwright]], [[Windlass]], [[Windmill]] * '''Alternatives''': [[Hovercraft|Air cushion]], [[Continuous track]], [[Screw-propelled vehicle|Counter-rotating screws]], [[Leg mechanism]], [[Magnetic levitation]], [[Wing-in-ground-effect]] * '''History''': [[History of the wheel in Africa]], ''[[The Horse, The Wheel and Language]]'', [[Rotating locomotion in living systems]], [[Terrestrial locomotion in animals#Rolling|Terrestrial locomotion in animals: Rolling]], [[Robot locomotion]] * '''Theory''': [[Rolling resistance]], [[Rotational energy]], [[Torque]], [[Wheel and axle|Wheel and axle (simple machine)]], [[Wheel sizing]] ==References== <!-- Dead note "p-1": Casson, Lionel, "Travel in the Ancient World", The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1994. --> {{reflist}} ==External links== * University of Kiel. "[https://www.uni-kiel.de/en/details/news/051-wheel-tracks# 3400 BC: The oldest evidence for the use of the wheel and wagon originates from Northern Germany]". Online: April 11, 2022. Retrieved: April 14th, 2022. {{Commons category multi|Wheels|Automobile wheels}} {{Wiktionary|wheel}} {{Powertrain}} {{Chassis control systems}} {{Prehistoric technology}} {{Locomotive running gear}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Wheels| ]]
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