A handicap access ramp is a very common example of an inclined plane. These shallow ramps make it possible for people in wheelchairs to enter buildings whose entrances are higher than ground level. Wheelchair ramps must be constructed at a very shallow angle because someone rolling his own wheelchair generally has poor leverage. This is a perfect example of the benefit of inclined planes. Someone pushing his own wheelchair can keep moving forward and up the ramp with a relatively small application of force, but must go much further than he would on steeper stairs.
Trucks used to carry heavy loads of cargo sometimes have loading ramps that make it easier to raise the cargo from the ground to the level of the truck bed. Most moving trucks, for example, are equipped with a retractable roller ramp since there is no loading dock from which to load furniture and household goods. These ramps combine a series of wheels and axles (another simple machine, which reduces friction) with an inclined plane, which reduces force.
While they may not look like it, stairs are another example of an inclined plane. Though they are not smooth surfaces like wheelchair ramps and most other types of inclined plane, they fulfill the same function of reducing the force and increasing the distance one must use to raise a load. One way to visualize the way a staircase fulfills the same function as an inclined plane is to imagine a staircase with a huge number of very tiny stairs. The smaller and more numerous the stairs get, the more the staircase approximates a smooth ramp.
It is easy to see that a playground slide is another form of inclined plane. The interesting difference between slides and most other inclined planes is that they have the opposite purpose. Most inclined planes exist to minimize the force needed to move a load, with the unfortunate trade-off of a greater distance to move it. Slides, however, extend the distance of a downward motion to make the ride more enjoyable, while decreasing acceleration due to gravity to make the ride safer than a vertical jump down.