Your Rube Goldberg Machine must include at least 4 of the 6 simple machines.

In all cases, the machine will only be counted if it is being used to trade force for distance (or distance for force) and if its correct operation is necessary for the step to function. Simply gluing a pulley to a piece of your machine will not allow you to count the pulley as one of the simple machines you used in your project.

Your instructor will have the final say regarding the counting of machines in your project.

The Simple Machines

Machine-Specific Rules
If You Use A/An	Be Sure That
Inclined Plane	the step pulls the load up the length of the incline
Wheel and Axel	the wheel and axle have different radii, and the wheel must make more than one full rotation for the step to function
Screw	the screw makes at least one full rotation, and the rotation of the screw must pull or push a nut along the threads for the step to work
Wedge	the wedge must move along the axis of its altitude, and the tapered shape of the wedge must cause it to separate two things from one another in order for the step to work (if the step would work just as well if the wedge were replaced with a simple block, then you're not using it as a wedge)

You should have notes on all of the simple machines.
You can also visit the HyperPhysics* web site on simple machines by clicking the image below.

(*Please note that the screw depicted on that sight us actually a compound machine made by combining a lever with a screw.)
 
 

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