Lever Problems

Answer any 8 problems

For each problem draw a sketch of the lever

1) A See-Saw is 25 feet long with a fulcrum in the middle of the board. If a 60 lb. child sits three
feet from the fulcrum, what is the lowest weight that will lift the child?

2) Where must a 100 lb. child sit to balance the 60 lb. child in problem 1?

3) What ideal effort is required to lift a 250lb wheelbarrow load if the handle is five feet from the
axle and the center of the load bin is eighteen inches from the axle?

4) Repeat the above problem assuming an efficiency of 85%.

5) A pair of pliers is gripping a nut.

a. How much force applied to the nut if it is 2 inches from the pivot and the center of the
applied load of 40 pounds is 10 inches from pivot?

b. What is the mechanical advantage?

6) How much work is done to raise a 300 lb. box 1 foot using a ten foot beam? W=fd

a. If the box in problem 5 sits 3 feet from the fulcrum

b. What is the smallest amount of force needed to lift the box 1 foot in problem 5 if the
box sits 3 feet from the fulcrum?

c. What is the mechanical advantage

7) A lever, 10 feet long, is used to lift a load of 200lb

a. What is the minimum force needed to lift the load if it is 3 feet from the fulcrum?
Assume class one mechanism and 10 feet between the applied effort and the load

b. What is the minimum force needed to lift the load if it is 3 feet from the fulcrum?
Assume class two mechanism and the fulcrum is 1 foot from the end

c. What is the minimum force needed to lift the load if it is 10 feet from the fulcrum and
the effort is 3 feet from the fulcrum? Assume class 3 lever

8) For the above problem:

a. What is the mechanical advantage for each of the levers?

b. Why would someone want to use a class three lever?

9) Archimedes once said “give me a place to stand and a strong enough lever I can move the
earth”. You wave a magic wand and give him a place to stand and a place for the fulcrum, how
long is the lever (don’t worry about material) if the earth is 1,000 miles from the fulcrum and
weighs 6.6x1021 tons. (Ignore the fact that weight is a function of the earth’s gravity and there is
no air in space). Archimedes pushes with a force of 100 lb.

10) Assume that the length of the load arm of a lever is 5.5 m, and the length of the effort arm is
2.25 m, (Total length: 7.75m)
a. What would be the mechanical advantage of the lever?
b. If the efficiency is 90%, what is the actual mechanical advantage?

11) If the mechanical advantage (MA) = 0.25, with how many pounds of force do you need to push
on the effort arm, in order to lift a box which weighs 500 pounds?

12) If a lever has a mechanical advantage of 0.1, and a person weighing 120 pounds sat on the effort
arm, how heavy of a person could be lifted who sat on the other end? (3 pts)

13) A crane arm can be modeled as a Class III lever. How much load can a crane raise if the
mechanical advantage is 0.4 and the effort arm is 3m? The applied force is 40kN. Assume the
crane is a straight line, what is the height of the load if the angle is 30°?

14) A worker can lift 200 lb (100 lb per arm). Design a wheelbarrow (Class II lever) that can allow the
worker to move a 1000lb load. The diameter of the wheel is 1 foot.

15) A pliers has a total length of 8 inches. How much force is applied to a nut in the jaw that is .25
from the pivot? The total length of the jaw is 0.5 inches and the applied force is 75 lb.