- Gears that provide the energy to drive the next gear in a machine are the drive gears. A gear that receives the force from the drive gear is the driven gear.
- Gears reverse the direction of movement as they drive one another. When a drive gear moves clockwise to mesh teeth with a driven gear, the movement of the driven gear is counter-clockwise.
- Most machines that rely on gears have more than just two gears. In this case, most of the gears in the machine will be serve as both drivers and driven because they receive and transmit movement. The term "drive gear" is useful to describe the direction of the transmission of forces. The first gear in any engine will be the only one that serves as a drive gear exclusively. That's because it doesn't receive force from a previous gear.
- The last gear in any mechanism is known as the final drive gear.
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