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
The moment of force on the object you are trying to turn is a combination of force applied to the lever (let’s use the end of the level in this example to make it easier), and the force you put on the end of the lever. [For completeness, the equation is M = rF (‘r’ being distance from object, ‘F’ being force applied to lever)]
Imagine you only have a lever of one length to begin with. The only way you can try to turn the object with more force is by pushing harder on the end of the lever. This is increasing the ‘force’.
But you could increase the length of the lever instead and keep your push force the same. This would turn the object with more moment force, by only increasing the ‘distance’.
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