Why does a lever work?

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So i know a lever has two sides, the effort and the load.

If the effort side is longer it means the angle is larger, but then it requires less force to push the load side.

Does a lever work because the weight you are manipulating has been equally divided between the whole swing distance of the “effort” side of the lever?

Am I thinking about this correctly?

In: Physics

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Think of a clock that you can move with your fingers.

When you push the minute hand, it’s easy to do. When you push the hour hand, it takes a little more push to move it, but you don’t need to move it as far.

This is how a lever works. If the lever is longer then you don’t have to push it as hard, but you have to move it further. The same amount of work is still done though.

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