The reason that changing the gear setup like what @jpearman said, is because of the:
SCIENCE OF GEAR RATIOS
Before we understand gear ratios, we need to understand:
MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE
So, what is mechanical advantage? Mechanical advantage is the trade-off between torque and speed. High torque = Low speed.
And likewise:
Low torque = High speed.
The same principles are used when you use a jack to lift up your car for repairs, and also the same way the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramids of Giza.
For more information on mechanical advantage, I would recommended watching Mark Rober’s video on mousetrap cars or even this video about transmissions by Ford from 1936 (this one is really simple which is way I like it so much).
Now how does this transfer over to gear ratios?
Well, when you drive a smaller gear with a bigger gear, it will produce a speed gear ratio. And vice-versa.
The orange gear is the gear connected to the motor and the green gear is the one connected to the component you want to move.
Ok, but where are the ratios?
The ratios come when you want to calculate the torque and speed amount.
The first ratio would be 3:1, because for every 1 time the Driving Gear spins, the Driven Gear spins 3 times. We know this the Driven Gear has 12 teeth and the Driving Gear has 36.
36:12 reduces down to 3:1.
I hope I didn’t over-complicate this. If you have any more questions, PLEASE check out this STEM lab by VEX on gear ratios. Or feel free to private message me,