You’ve constructed a lever. Twisting or rotational force is known as torque; it is calculated by multiplying the linear force being exerted by the distance between where the force is being exerted and where the rod/beam/shaft can pivot, also known as the fulcrum. So if you were pushing down with 100 Newtons of force on a 1.5 meter long crank handle, you would be applying 150 N-m of torque to the crank.
If we’re talking twisting or bending metal, that means you can apply a lot more force by simply being farther away and moving more. If you bend a 2 meter long rod by 90 degrees, you have to move about 3.14 meters to bend the rod at the fulcrum (2 pi r / 4). You are trading distance for force; it would be very difficult to bend the rod in your hands, but you’d only have to move your hands a few centimeters to bend it.
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