🔍 Key Concepts

• Working depth of gear teeth – how far the teeth of one gear actually mesh into the mating gear • Difference between whole depth, addendum, and dedendum • On the illustration, which lettered dimension shows the actual engaged tooth depth between the two meshing gears, not just one tooth’s height

💭 Think About

• Look at where the two gears touch: which dimension runs from the top of one tooth down to the deepest point where the mating tooth can still work without interference? • Which labeled arrow measures the depth within the meshing zone between the two gears, rather than on a single isolated tooth? • Compare the dimension that shows only one gear tooth height with the one that clearly depends on the position of both gears’ pitch circles – which of these better matches the definition of working depth?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify which lettered dimension lies between the addendum circle of one gear and the addendum circle of the mating gear (the region where actual contact occurs). • Make sure you are not picking the whole depth (from tooth tip to root of the same gear). • Confirm that the dimension you choose is measured radially, not along the tooth face or around the arc.