The mechanical advantage of a gear train is its gear ratio. The gear ratio (V_r) is the product of the gear ratios between the pairs of meshed gears. Let N represent the number of teeth for each gear:

V_r = \( \frac{N_1}{N_2} \) \( \frac{N_2}{N_3} \) \( \frac{N_3}{N_4} \) ... \( \frac{N_n}{N_{n+1}} \)

In this problem, we have three gears so the equation becomes:

V_r = \( \frac{N_1}{N_2} \) \( \frac{N_2}{N_3} \) = \( \frac{28}{12} \) \( \frac{12}{2} \) = \( \frac{28}{2} \) = 14

Kinetic energy is the energy of movement and is a function of the mass of an object and its speed: \(KE = {1 \over 2}mv^2\) where m is mass in kilograms, v is speed in meters per second, and KE is in joules. The most impactful quantity to kinetic energy is velocity as an increase in mass increases KE linearly while an increase in speed increases KE exponentially.

In mechanics, multiple forces are often acting on a particular object and, taken together, produce the net force acting on that object. Like force, net force is a vector quantity in that it has magnitude and direction.

The more mass a substance has the more force is required to move it or to change its direction. This resistance to changes in direction is known as inertia.

The efficiency of a machine describes how much of the power put into the machine is turned into movement or force. A 100% efficient machine would turn all of the input power into output movement or force. However, no machine is 100% efficient due to friction, heat, wear and other imperfections that consume input power without delivering any output.