Inclined Plane

Hello there. My name is the Inclined Plane, and I am one of the simplest, but most helpful, inventions in the whole world. Have you ever seen a slide at the playground or a ramp going up to a door. That’s me. I am just a flat surface that is tilted, making a gentle slope. Have you ever tried to lift a big, heavy box of toys all by yourself. It can be really hard work. Lifting things straight up takes a lot of muscle and energy. But that’s where I come in to help. My job is to make that hard work much, much easier. Instead of lifting something heavy straight up, you can just push or pull it up my sloping side. It might be a longer path, but it takes a lot less effort. I turn a big lift into a simple push.

I am incredibly old, so old that I don’t even have a birthday. I am one of the first clever ideas people ever had to make their lives easier. Thousands and thousands of years ago, around 2500 BCE, I had a very important job in a hot, sandy place called ancient Egypt. The people there were building the amazing Great Pyramids, which are giant triangle-shaped buildings that you can still see today. They had to use stone blocks that were heavier than a car to build them. How could they lift those giant stones so high into the air. They couldn't just pick them up. So, they used me. They built long, sloping ramps out of dirt and sand right next to the pyramids. I became a long, gentle pathway to the sky. Teams of workers could then work together to slide the heavy stones up my back, slowly but surely, until they reached the very top.

Even though I am an ancient idea that helped build wonders of the world, I am not retired. I am still working hard all around you every single day. You probably see me all the time and don't even notice. When you see a wheelchair ramp next to some stairs, that’s me, making sure everyone can get into buildings easily and safely. Have you ever been in a car driving up a tall mountain. The road doesn’t go straight up, does it. It winds back and forth, climbing slowly. That winding road is just a very, very long version of me, helping the car get to the top without its engine working too hard. Even the ramp that movers use to load heavy furniture into a truck is me in action. I am proof that sometimes the simplest ideas are the most powerful. I show that you don’t have to be complicated to help people do incredible things.