ocr: How do gears work? All gears need energy to operate them. You give energy to some rotating machines, such as hand whisks and coffee grinders, by turning a handle. Most other machines get their energy trom electric motors. In the pinball game, water flowing from the faucet provides the necessary energy to turn the gears. The rate atwhich one gear turns another depends upon the size of the gears. If one wheel has one quarter the number of teeth of the other, it turns four times to every one rotation of the bigger wheel. SMALLER GEAR - M2 i Eost LARGER 110 TEETH GEAR 140 TEETH By turning on the A ...