How was Wheel Invented?
There are different types of vehicles that move from one place to another with the help of wheels. With the help of wheels, vehicles can move faster. Wheels are not only found in vehicles but also seen in a giant wheel, spinning wheel, a sugarcane crusher, in an amusement park and in many other things. Wheels are also used in different machines. Even our grandfather’s clock may have inter-connected wheels.
Very early period of human history is called a ‘Stone Age’. By the end of this age, man started making weapons and tools from the stones. It was during this period, that the wheel was invented by man.
Man prepared pots of clay. As he shaped them with his hands, their shapes and size appeared rough, uneven and different from each other. Little later, he started using a flat wheel. The quality of his pots improved due to the use of such wheel. He started making clay pots that were equal in shape and size. The use of wheel also saved his time, as pots were made rapidly.
Wooden wheels were used to pull horse and bullock carts. The early wheels were strong and made by joining long narrow pieces of wood together. These wheels were solid and heavy. It was not easy to pull carts with such heavy wheels. Thus, it became necessary to invent wheels that were much lighter in weight. Wheels with spokes were made by man in 2000 BC. The use of solid wheels slowly decreased. Soon man got an idea of fixing leather bands on the wooden wheels. This made the life of the wooden wheels longer as they did not wear out easily. Once the iron was invented, iron straps were used in place of leather bands.
Lighter wheels reduced the strain of pulling the carts. The speed of the carts increased. Travelling to distant places and carrying heavy luggage became easier and less time consuming.
It was during the same time when man started cultivating cotton. He now started using the wheel for spinning the cotton into thread. The equipment called ‘quern’ to grind grains consisting of two round stones used for making flour also had a wheel. He also made toys, which had wheels.
Invention of a wheel was useful to man in many ways. With the passage of time, the use of wheels was made in many more ways. We can say that the invention of wheel by an unknown brain carried us a long way along the path of knowledge, advancement and progress.
