7.18.23 – Gold Medal STEM | Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

7.18.23 – Gold Medal STEM

We have a need for speed! Olympian cyclists are able to average 41.5 kilometers/hr (26 mph) during their races and in order to achieve those speeds, the gears on their bicycles need to be set properly for the given terrain. Today, our Olympic engineers/coaches learned about the science behind how gears work and what the benefits and tradeoffs are for using higher vs. lower gear settings. They then put their gear knowledge to work by starting to create their own unique gear train prototypes.