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differential

Type of simple planetary gear train

EntityQ193137

Also known as differential (mechanical device) · differential gear · central differential · open differential

Subclass of: epicyclic gearing

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

A differential is a gear train with three drive shafts that has the property that the rotational speed of one shaft is the average of the speeds of the others. A common use of differentials is in motor vehicles, to allow the wheels at each end of a drive axle to rotate at different speeds while cornering. Other uses include clocks and analogue computers. Differentials can also provide a gear ratio between the input and output shafts. For example, many differentials in motor vehicles provide a gearing reduction by having fewer teeth on the pinion than the ring gear.

Overview

On other databases

13 identifiers linking differential across the web's reference databases

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Source last edited September 26, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). differential (Q193137). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/differential-Q193137