Kinematic diagram

Have you ever drawn a picture of yourself and your friends playing outside? You may have drawn stick figures that showed your arms, legs, and head. This is a lot like a kinematic diagram!

A kinematic diagram is a drawing of how things move. But instead of drawing a person, we draw a bunch of lines and arrows that represent the motion of different parts of a machine. For example, imagine a car. We could draw a kinematic diagram by drawing lines and arrows that show the wheels spinning, the pistons moving up and down, and the steering wheel turning.

This diagram helps us understand how the machine works and how all the different parts move together. Just like your picture helped you remember how much fun you had playing outside, the kinematic diagram helps engineers and mechanics understand how to fix and improve machines.