How does making a lever longer increase the amount of force applied to it’s pivot point?

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Like if you take a wrench and attach a long pipe to it so you can more easily turn whatever the wrench is holding. I just have trouble understanding how making the ‘arm’ longer increases the force on the pivot without you having to push any harder on the end of the arm.

In: Physics

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The work you do is a function of the force you apply and the distance you travel

When you use a wrench or similar, you are ultimately making a circular path with the force being applied perpendicular to the lever arm

If you trace out your circular trajectory, measure how long that arc is, and multiply it by the force applied, you end up with the total work done.

As you make the lever arm longer, the arc length gets longer as well. If you have a further distance, you need less force to achieve the same work.

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