sprocket
part of speech
noun (a sprocket, sprockets)
meaning for a pupil
A sprocket is a wheel with teeth around its edge that fit into the links of a chain or the holes in a film or tape, so that it can turn it or be turned by it. On a bicycle, the toothed wheels the chain goes round are sprockets. tree →
sense in the lessons
In design and technology and science lessons sprockets and chains are a way to pass turning force from one wheel to another (like gears). On a bike, a big front sprocket and a small back sprocket make the back wheel turn faster. Old cinema film and camera film had sprocket holes. Phrases: "chain and sprocket", "sprocket holes", "rear sprocket".
examples
- The bike chain slipped off the sprocket. tree →
- The front sprocket has more teeth than the back one. tree →
- Sprockets and chains are used in bicycles and motorbikes. tree →
- Old film had little sprocket holes along its edges. tree →
- We built a model with plastic sprockets in D and T. tree →
- Oil the chain so it runs smoothly over the sprockets. tree →
- If the front sprocket has 40 teeth and the back has 20, the back wheel turns twice for each turn of the pedals. tree →
note
Countable. In maths problems, the number of teeth matters: turns of the small sprocket = teeth of big ÷ teeth of small × turns of the big one. A sprocket differs from a gear because a sprocket works with a chain, while gears touch each other.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sprocket» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.