ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Shaft (mechanical engineering)

A shaft is like a long stick that can spin around. Sometimes it's made of metal, like steel, and sometimes it's made of other strong materials.

Shafts are often used in machines to help parts move around. For example, if you've ever used a toy car or train, you might have noticed that there's a little metal rod that sticks out of the wheels. That's a mini shaft! When you spin the wheels, the shaft spins too, and that helps make the toy move.

In bigger machines, like cars or airplanes, there are lots of shafts. They might be hidden inside the engine or transmission, but they're still there. The shafts help different parts of the machine move around or transfer power from one place to another.

Shafts can be really important in mechanical engineering because they help machines work properly. Plus, they're pretty cool to watch when they spin around!