Levers
By: Imelda Rivera
What is a lever ?
- Leaver allows you to gain a mechanical advantage in moving an object or in applying a force to an object .
- Parts of the lever are : load , effort , fulcrum .
- The load and effort are also called the resistance arm and the effort arm.
- There is 3 types of levers ; 1st class, 2nd class, 3 class
- The 3 types of levers are classified by the position of the fulcrum, load , and effort.
Three Classes of Levers
Examples of lever in the real world
- Tweezers
- nut cracker
- nail clipper
- fishing pole
How does a lever provides mechanical advantage ?
The lever provides mechanical advantage by increase the distance that you put on force that you applied . To increase the mechanical advantage of the lever , move the the fulcrum closer to the object .
Calculation of mechanical advantage
- To find the MA of a lever, divide the effort arm length by the resistance arm length.
- MA = effort arm length / resistance arm length