Sprockets and gears are both used to transmit power within machines or to move items by interlocking with them. But what's the difference between them?
What's The Difference Sprockets and Gears?
The biggest difference between a sprocket and a gear is how each works on a functional level. Both tend to be grooved wheels used in machinery, and their basic appearance is often really similar — but how they operate and what, exactly, it is they do tends to be really different. In general, a gear is a toothed wheel designed to mesh with other gears and transmit movement to them, which in turn can cause movement elsewhere. A sprocket, conversely, is a toothed wheel designed to engage and directly move a flexible indented or perforated item, like a chain or belt. The applications of each are different as a result. Sprockets are most common when there's a moving belt or chain that is contained, as is commonly the case in bicycles, conveyor belts, and film projection reels. Gears are typically preferable in all other scenarios, cars and heavy machinery included. Not only are gears more universally useful, but they also aren't as likely to need repairs or re-fittings.
Sprockets and gears are both used to transmit power within machines or to move items by interlocking with them. A sprocket usually interacts directly with some part of the machinery at issue, however, whereas gears can and often do push against each other first, then use that collective movement to influence some larger mechanical process. Another way of expressing this is that sprockets have to work independently, but gears can use networks to build strength and precision. The difference is usually most noticeable when looking closely at the grooves or teeth of each.
In the case of a sprocket, the teeth are constructed to fit precisely into the perforations or slots of the items that the tool is designed to move. The possibilities for design variations tend to be somewhat limited as a consequence. Gears, on the other hand, mesh directly with each other, and thus lend themselves to a wide variety of applications. For instance, a gear’s teeth might be on the outside of the wheel or on the inside circumference; another type, called a worm gear, isn’t a wheel at all but a threaded rod.