The resistive force is attached to the axle, and the applied effort force is attached to the larger wheel. Then the distance traveled by the resistive force is 2πra, where ra is the ...The resistive force is attached to the axle, and the applied effort force is attached to the larger wheel. Then the distance traveled by the resistive force is 2πra, where ra is the axle radius. The distance through which the effort force is applied is 2πrw, where rw is the wheel radius. (Figure \PageIndex1.) Figure \PageIndex1: (a) The wheel and axle. (b) The windlass, another type of wheel and axle.