My Science School

A type of digger called a backhoe loader can dig, load and drill. At the back is a digger arm with a bucket called a backhoe. At the front is a shovel for picking up loose soil and rock. Different sized buckets or a pneumatic drill can be attached to the backhoe.

Is it true? Some trucks have bullet-proof glass.

Yes. Demolition machines have extra-strong, bullet-proof glass in their cabs. The glass stops falling masonry crashing into the cab and hurting the driver.

Amazing! There are mini digging machines as well as big ones. Mini machines are used where large machines can’t go, such as in basements, and for digging small trenches in pavements and gardens.

Which trucks can reach high up?

A mobile crane is a truck with a crane on its back. Mobiles cranes work on construction sites, lifting heavy objects such as steel girders into place with their telescopic arms. There is a cab at the back for the driver who operates the crane.

How is concrete delivered?

Concrete is carried to building sites in cement mixers. The ingredients are put in the mixer’s drum, which rotates, mixing the concrete.

Picture Credit : Google

A monster truck is an ordinary pick-up truck fitted with huge dump-truck wheels, extra-strong suspension and a very powerful engine. Monster truck owners race their trucks over tracks with huge bumps and jumps. The trucks bounce about and even tip over if they go too quickly.

Is it true? Monster trucks drive over cars.

Yes. In monster truck racing, some of the obstacles that the trucks drive over are old cars! The cars get crushed flat under the trucks’ massive wheels.

Amazing! One of most famous American monster trucks is called Grave Digger. It has an amazing custom paint job, with scenes of graveyards all over its bodywork!

Who paints trucks for protection?

 In countries such as Afghanistan and India, truck drivers paint their trucks with bright colours and religious symbols. They believe that the symbols will stop them from having accidents.

What are customised trucks?

Customised trucks have special parts such as huge wheels, high suspensions and big engines. Some even have boots, bonnets and doors moved by hydraulic rams. Custom trucks are built specially for shows and races.

Picture Credit : Google

Tanks are good at driving across rough, muddy ground, but they’re quite slow. When tanks need to move quickly, they’re carried on special tank transporters. The transporter’s trailer needs lots of wheels to spread out the huge weight of the tank.

Which trucks can swim?

Armies transport equipment in amphibious trucks that can drive on land like a normal truck and float across water like a boat. Amphibious trucks have a waterproof underside to stop water flooding the engine.

Amazing! Some trucks have armour plating on the outside. They’re called armoured personnel carriers (APCs for short). They’re used to carry troops on battlefields.

What carries missiles?

Missile-carrying trucks transport huge nuclear missiles. On board the truck is a launch pad and a control centre for launching the missile. The trucks carry the missiles into the countryside if their base is threatened by enemy attack.

Is it true? Some trucks have caterpillar tracks.

Yes. A type of truck called a half-track has wheels at the front and caterpillar tracks at the rear. Armies often transport their troops in half-tracks.

Picture Credit : Google

In the 19th century, the first powered trucks had steam engines, before petrol engines and diesel engines were invented. They looked like the steam tractors used on farms.

Amazing! The first ever steam-powered vehicle was destroyed in a crash. The three-wheeled carriage was built by French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769, and was supposed to pull artillery guns.

What did trucks look like before steam engines were invented?

Before steam engines were invented, cargo was moved in wagons pulled by animals such as oxen or horses. This is why the first powered trucks and cars were called ‘horseless’ carriages.

Is it true? Early buses were pulled by steam tractors.

Yes. A steam tractor was a steam-powered vehicle designed for towing wagons. The first passenger-carrying buses were made up of a wagon with several seats inside, pulled by a steam tractor.

What was a charabanc?

A charabanc was a flat-bodied truck with benches in the back for passengers to sit on. Factory workers and their families travelled in charabancs on days out to the seaside or to the city. The first charabancs were pulled by teams of horses.

Picture Credit : Google

A jack-knife happens when a truck driver tries to stop, but the trailer slides sideways, out of control. A jack-knife is very dangerous – the trailer might turn over. It is named after a Knife with a folding blade.

How do truck drivers talk to each other?

Truck drivers talk to each other on citizens’ band (C.B) radios. They warn each other about traffic jams or bad weather. Drivers use nicknames called handles instead of their real names.

Amazing! During the winter, some truck drivers build fires under their cabs while they are stopped! When diesel fuel gets very cold it goes thick and gooey, so drivers try to keep it warm and runny so that their engines will start again without any trouble.

Is it true? Trucks have up to 16 gears.

Yes. Trucks need lots of gears. They need very low gears for starting off with a heavy load and for slowly climbing steep hills. They also need very high gears for travelling quickly on motorways.

Where do truckers sleep?

Some long-distance truck drivers sleep in bunks behind or over their seats. The biggest trucks have a sleeper compartment behind the cab, with a toilet and shower.

Picture Credit : Google

Freestyle motocross is a new motorbike sport where the riders perform daring tricks as they jump off humps on a dirt truck. Sometimes they even let go of their bikes completely!

What is stunt riding?

Stunt riders speed up ramps on their bikes, and jump over cars, buses and trucks. The most famous stunt rider of all, Evel Knievel, even tried to jump a canyon in a rocket-powered ‘skycycle’ in 1974. He nearly drowned in the attempt. Evel claims that he has broken every bone in his body.

Amazing! Teams of stunt riders perform incredible tricks such as building motorcycle pyramids and jumping through rings of fire. For a pyramid, the team members balance on each other’s shoulders while the bikes are moving.

What is the wall of death?

The wall of death is a circular, vertical wall. Stunt riders whizz round and round it on their motorbikes, as if they’re riding inside a tin can! They have to ride at full speed to stop falling off the wall.

Is it true? Riding on one wheel is impossible.

No. Riders can lift their front wheels off the ground and ride along on the rear wheel. This trick is called a wheelie. Superbike racers do wheelies to celebrate winning a race.

Picture Credit : Google

 A chopper is a customized bike with a low seat, high handlebars and long front forks. The rider leans back, as if in an armchair. Choppers first appeared in the USA when Harley owners chopped up parts of bikes to make much lighter and faster versions.

Amazing! Chopper motorbikes and tricycle motorbikes a popular with motorbike gangs called Hell’s Angels. Hell’s Angels wear all black - black leathers and black helmets.

Is it true? Chopped scooters are used for drag racing.

Yes. A drag race is a race between two motorbikes along a short, straight track. Some drag racers compete on chopped scooters, which are scooters with a beefed up engine and a long frame.

Who reached 345 kph on a Triumph?

Johnny Allen rode a cigar-shaped Triumph bike at 345 kph across the Bonneville Salt Flats in America in 1956. Triumph named their most famous bike the Bonneville after this feat.

Who put three engines on a motorbike?

Russ Collins put three engines on to his Honda drag racer in the 1970s. Drag bikes need a huge amount of power for maximum acceleration, and some models are even powered by rocket engines!

Picture Credit : Google

TT races are held every year on the public roads of the Isle of Man, part of the British Isles. TT stands for Tourist Trophy, because, when the races started in 1907, they were for touring motorbikes.

Who raced on wooden boards?

Early motorcycle races used to take place on wooden bicycle tracks. Imagine the splinters if you fell off!

Is it true? All motorbikes have brakes.

No. Motorbikes built for speedway racing have no brakes, and only one gear. These races take place on oval tracks made of dirt, sand, grass, and sometimes ice. The riders slide round the bends at each end of the track.

Amazing! In high-speed crashes, motorbike racers sometimes skid across the ground at 250 kph! So racers wear leather overalls to protect them in case they fall off. They also have tough knee pads sewn into their leathers because their knees touch the road as they lean into bends.

What is a superbike?

A superbike, such as this Ducati, is a very fast motorbike, normally with an engine of 750 cc or bigger. The word ‘superbike’ was first used to describe the Honda CB750 of the late 1960s. Superbikes are designed for high-speed racing but can also be used for touring on public roads.

Picture Credit : Google

Trials bikes are designed for riding on steep, rough and rocky ground. They are ridden in motorbike trials, where riders have to ride over obstacles without stopping or putting their feet down to balance.

Amazing! Trials bikes can make short hops up almost vertical rock faces. The rider needs good balance and expert control of the clutch and gears.

Which bikes have knobbly tyres?

Trials bikes and motocross bikes have tyres with a deep, knobbly tread around the outside. The tread helps the tyres to grip the wet and muddy ground during competitions.

Is it true? No one has crossed the desert on a motorbike.

No. Riders often take part in motocross competitions held in deserts. There are also long-distance desert motorbike rallies, such as the Paris-Dakar rally which crosses the dusty Sahara Desert.

Which motorcyclists wear armour?

Riders in motocross races wear tough plastic body armour to protect them in case they fall off, or are hit by other bikes. They also wear long, tough boots, helmets and goggles to keep mud out of their eyes.

Picture Credit : Google

A motorbike’s engine is between the two wheels, attached to the bike’s frame. Above the engine, just in front of the driver’s seat, is the fuel tank. Exhaust pipes carry waste gases from the engine to the rear of the bike.

Are motorbike engines all the same shape?

The shape of an engine depends on how many cylinders it has and how they are arranged. A v-twin engine has two cylinders in a V shape. A straight-four has four cylinders in a line.

Amazing! The biggest engine on a motorbike is a 1600 cc engine on a Yamaha superbike. The engine is as big and powerful as the engine in a family car.

What is a two-stroke engine?

A two-stroke engine is a simple petrol engine often used on small motorbikes, mopeds and scooters. Larger motorbikes have a four-stroke petrol engine. Two-stroke engines use more fuel and make more pollution.

Picture Credit : Google

A scooter has small wheels, a small engine near the rear wheel, and a gap in the frame for the rider’s legs. They are cheap to run and good for nipping around busy towns and cities.

Amazing! You can buy toy motorbikes which are models of real bikes, with tiny engines and the same controls as a full-sized bike. They’re not allowed on the road though.

Which is the best-selling motorbike ever?

The 50 cc Honda Super Cub, which went on sale in 1958, is the biggest selling motorbike ever. This little bike is cheap to run, and is still popular all over the world.

Is it true? The scooter is a recent invention.

No. Scooters became popular in Italy in the 1950s, and in the 1960s they became very trendy. They were ridden by young British men called mods, which dressed in green parka coats and customized their scooters with lots of mirrors and flags.

Which scooter fits in a car boot?

The American-made Autoped, which was produced in 1915, could be folded up to fit into the boot of a car. In recent years, as traffic has become busier, fold-up scooters have become popular again for cheap and speedy travel.

Picture Credit : Google

A drive shaft is a rod which carries power from a bike’s engine to its rear wheel. Some early bikes, such as the Belgian FN of 1906, had drive shafts instead of belts or chains. The shaft turned the wheel using gears.

Amazing! In the early 1900s, women always wore dresses, even when they rode on motorbikes. So some bikes had a dress guard made of string which stopped dresses getting tangled in the engine or rear wheel.

What were leather belts for?

Most motorcycles today use a chain to drive the rear wheel. But many motorcycles made before 1910 used a thick leather belt instead. Belts were unreliable, as they wore out quickly, often broke and even slipped in the rain!

When was a drive chain first used?

Most modern bikes have a flexible metal chain which carries power from the engine to the rear wheel. Chain drives were introduced on some bikes in the early 1900s, such as the 1905 Scott. Chains are made up of dozens of short pieces linked together.

Is it true? Belt drives are still used today.

Yes. Most modern bikes use a chain drive, but some have belts instead. The belts are made from rubber, strengthened with fabric. Belts are lighter than chains and need less maintenance. A few modern bikes have drive shafts instead of a chain or belt.

The Michaux-Perreaux bicycle of 1869 had a steam engine under its saddle. Wood or coal had to be put in the engine every few minutes to keep the water boiling, to work the engine.

Who put an engine above a front wheel?

The Werner brothers in France built a motorcycle in 1899. It was a safety bicycle with a petrol engine above the front wheel, in front of the handlebars.

Amazing! American engineer Lucius Copeland made a motorcycle by adding a small steam engine to a penny farthing. He rode the bicycle backwards, using the small wheel to steer. The machine could travel at 20 kph.

What did the first motorbike look like?

The first proper motorbike had a heavy wooden frame, wooden wheels with metal rims, and two stabilising wheels to stop it toppling over. It was the first motorbike to have a lightweight petrol engine, but it was very slow. It was built by German engineers Daimler and Maybach in 1885.

Is it true? Early motorcycles had pedals.

Yes. The engines on early motorcycles were not very powerful or reliable. So the bikes had pedals for going up hills or in case of a breakdown. Some modern bikes, such as mopeds, still have pedals.

In 1838, a Scottish blacksmith called Kirkpatrick Macmillan built the first bicycle with pedals. Before this, bicycle riders kicked the ground to move along.

What was a penny farthing?

A penny farthing was a bicycle of the 1870s, named after two British coins. It had an enormous front wheel (the penny) and a small rear wheel (the farthing).

Amazing! In the 1880s, couples often rode side by side on tricycles (cycles with three wheels) called sociables. Each person had a set of pedals, which turned the huge rear wheels.

Is it true? People raced tricycles.

Yes. In the 1880s, the tricycle was not just a cycle for children, as it is today. It was popular with adults too. Tricycle racing was one of the first forms of cycle racing. Race events were held on bumpy roads and wooden tracks.

What was a safety bicycle?

The safety bicycle was the first bicycle to look like today’s bikes. It appeared in 1885. It had two wheels the same size, a diamond-shaped metal frame, pedals that turned the rear wheel using a chain, and brakes worked by levers on the handlebars.

Picture Credit : Google

Really fast future trains might not bother with wheels. They could ride on a cushion of air, like a hovercraft. The nose of the train squashes air underneath its belly as it jets along, and the squashed air lifts it above the ground. The Aerotrain already exists as an experimental vehicle.

What is a bullet train?

Japan’s fastest trains, the Shinkansen, were nicknamed bullet trains because of their pointy noses - and high speed! The fastest, Nozomi, travels at 300 kph. With no time wasted at airports, travelling by Nozomi can be quicker than flying by jet!

Amazing! One sled travelled at Mach 8. An unmanned rocket vehicle on rails achieved 9,851 kph in an American experiment in 1982. On straight track, it could make the eight-day Trans-Siberian trip in less than one hour!

Is it true? Some trains run on magnets.

Yes. Germany and Japan have both tested trains that use repelling magnets to float above the track. The track doesn’t wear out, and the trains can slip along at amazing speeds.

Are trains ‘green’?

Trains are less harmful to the environment than most other kinds of transport. They are particularly important in cities, where underground trains, trams and monorails can reduce pollution from cars, buses and taxis. For long distance journeys, trains use much less fuel than jet aircraft.

Picture Credit : Google