Electronics Paper

Briella Zoino

Art and Technology

Electronics Paper

31 October 2017

Electronics Paper: The Wheel

The wheel is not something people think about on an everyday basis. It has become sort of a cliche to ask “what would we do without the wheel?” or “when was the wheel made?”. The wheel has been around since 4500–3300 BCE, but yet it seems like it has been around forever. What would humans do without the wheel? Half the inventions we have today would not be here, we would not even be able to create most inventions without the wheel to begin with. The wheel by itself is not a machine, but when it is attached to something, that is when the magic happens.

What has the wheel done for humans in the past and in today’s modern world? Well, for starters, the wheel was first used for potters. The artists would use a potter's wheel to shape art, or ceramic pots. It was a machine to help artists do their work a little faster. Then, that potter’s wheel turned into a wheel that would be connected to a cart that the horses would pull around. As more commonly known today, that would be a wheel and chariot. There were wooden wheels, clay wheels, and even some stone wheels. They were either used for yard work, transportation, or for having fun connection the wheel to toys for children.  The wheel was also used for the water supplies. The water wheel, which is still used very scarcely today, was first used for milling flour, grinding wood, hammering iron, machining, ore crushing and pounding fiber for use in the manufacture of cloth. Today it is just for show mostly, but it is a true beauty to look at and admire the invention itself.

The wheel later evolved into what we know as bicycle wheels. Then came the car, the train,  and many other ways to get around where you have to go. This saved people a large amount of time and they got places faster without needing to go across the sea. It is such a simple invention, and yet, it has helped humans so much throughout the hundreds of years.

This invention of the wheel still helps people out in tremendous ways. Yes, we have cars, trains, and even some boat motors are in the shape of a wheel. All which are amazing, needed inventions used in everyday life. But, there are more little, subtle ways the wheel helps humans out today, especially the ones that are electronically used. For example, if hospital beds did not have wheels, many which are electronically wired, how hard would it be to wheel patients to surgery in the moment of an emergency? How would firefighters unravel a gigantic hose if it was not neatly rolled around a moving wheel? People that are disabled or old would not be able to leave their houses if it was not for the wheelchair being invented. Most wheelchairs today are electronic for people who have a hard time moving their arms and it has to be one of the top greatest inventions existing today for disabled people. The wheel is everywhere we look and in today’s age and it is usually electronically used. Unfortunately, we take it for granted slightly due to being born into having the wheel be everywhere in our lives. But, if someone were to take the wheel out of the equation of life, many simple tasks would become a nightmare.

Today, top scientists and engineers are making incredible inventions like robots, cures for diseases and new ways to make life easier. In some cases, if the wheel was not the base of a project or invention, there would be a block on the creation process. Another example is, some mass produced companies rely on factories to create their product. M&M’s factory makes millions of little chocolate M&M’s every day. Without the wheel to turn the machines and make the momentum for the candy to be made, we would not have as many M&M’s as we do today. That goes for any mass produced products in the world like Apple, or even something as simple as a pillow company. We rely on the machines which need the wheels to turn in order for machines to make the products we need in a large quantity.

In conclusion, the wheel is a very innovative design that has helped people for millions of years. Without the wheel, humans would truly be stuck and set back in our lifetime. We need the wheel to keep spinning in order to survive. Without it, we would live in a “not-so-well-rounded” world. The wheel is used electronically in so many ways today. Without the electric wheel cars, hospital beds, robots and factories, humans would truly be lost without the invention of it.