Final answer:
The diametral pitch is used to determine if gears with different diameters or numbers of teeth have the same size teeth and can therefore mesh properly.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term you're looking for is diametral pitch. The diametral pitch of a gear is a measure of the gear's tooth size and is calculated as the number of teeth divided by the gear's diameter. This value allows you to determine if gears will mesh correctly by comparing the diametral pitch of two gears.
If the diametral pitch matches, the gears have the same size teeth and can mesh properly. For example, if you have two gears, one with 20 teeth and 2 inches in diameter and another with 40 teeth and 4 inches in diameter, both have a diametral pitch of 10 teeth per inch, indicating that they can mesh.
In the context of gears, the pitch is a measure of the distance between each tooth on a gear. It is usually represented as the number of teeth divided by the diameter of the gear.
If two gears have the same pitch, it means that their teeth have the same size and shape, allowing them to mesh properly. For example, if a gear has 20 teeth and a diameter of 40 cm, its pitch would be 20/40 = 0.5 cm.