🔍 Key Concepts

• Look carefully at how many separate gear meshes (steps of reduction) are actually shown in the illustration. • Notice whether the intermediate pinions are on rigid quill shafts around the main gear or on any kind of articulated / hinged shafting. • Recall the difference between locked-train, nested, and articulated double-reduction gears in marine turbine installations.

💭 Think About

• How many times does the power change direction through a gear mesh from the input pinion to the large output (bull) gear? Does that match a double reduction or a four‑step reduction? • Do the identical vertical pinion assemblies spaced around the main gear suggest that the load is being shared in parallel paths, or is there a single train with extra joints or articulations? • In a "nested" arrangement, what parts of the gear train are positioned close together or on the same centerline, and do you see that feature here?

✅ Before You Answer

• Count the visible meshes: from the smallest pinion at the top of each shaft down to the large gear at the bottom. Match that to the reduction type in the choices. • Check whether there are any flexible / articulated couplings between pinions on the same shaft; if everything is rigidly mounted, that rules out one of the options. • Confirm whether power is split through multiple identical pinion trains around one bull gear, a key identifying feature of one listed gear type.