Chapter 4

4.2 The Lever

The lever is another example of a simple machine. In this section, you will learn about the relationships
between force and motion that explain how a lever works. After reading this section and doing the
Investigation, you should be able to design a lever to move almost anything!

What is a lever?
Levers are used The principle of the lever has been used since before humans had written
everywhere language. Levers still form the operating principle behind many common
machines. Examples of levers include: pliers, a wheelbarrow, and the human
biceps and forearm (figure 4.9).
Your muscles and You may have heard the human body described as a machine. In fact, it is: Your
skeleton use levers bones and muscles work as levers to perform everything from chewing to
throwing a ball.
Parts of the lever A lever includes a stiff structure (the lever) that rotates around a fixed point called
the fulcrum. The side of the lever where the input force is applied is called the
input arm. The output arm is the end of the lever that moves the rock or lifts the
heavy weight. Levers are useful because we can arrange the fulcrum and the
lengths of the input and output arms to make almost any mechanical advantage we
need.
Figure 4.9: Examples of three

How it works If the fulcrum is placed in the middle of the lever, the input and output forces are
the same. An input force of 100 pounds makes an output force of 100 pounds.

kinds of levers. The pair of pliers is a

first class lever because the fulcrum is
between the forces. The wheelbarrow
is a second class lever because the
output force is between the fulcrum
and input force. Human arms and legs
are all examples of third class levers
because the input forces (muscles) are
always between the fulcrum (a joint)
and the output force (what you
accomplish with your feet or hands).

4.2 The Lever

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Chapter 4

The mechanical advantage of a lever

Input and output The input and output forces are related by the
forces for a lever lengths on either side of the fulcrum. When
the input arm is longer, the output force is
larger than the input force. If the input arm is
10 times longer than the output arm, then the
output force will be 10 times bigger than the
input force (figure 4.10).
The mechanical Another way to say this is that the mechanical
advantage of a advantage of a lever is the ratio of lengths
lever between the input arm and the output arm. If
the input arm is 5 meters and the output arm is
1 meter, then the mechanical advantage will
be 5. The output force will be five times as
large as the input force.

Figure 4.10: The mechanical advantage of a lever is the ratio of the length of
the input arm over the length of the output arm.

The output force You can also make a lever where the output
can be less than force is less than the input force. You would
the input force be right if you guessed that the input arm is
shorter than the output arm on this kind of
lever. You might design a lever this way if you
needed the motion on the output side to be
larger than the motion on the input side.
The three types of There are three types of levers, as shown in
levers figure 4.11. They are classified by the location
of the input and output forces relative to the
fulcrum. All three types are used in many
machines and follow the same basic rules. The
mechanical advantage is always the ratio of
the lengths of the input arm over the output
arm.

Figure 4.11: The three classes of levers. For the third class, the input force is
larger than the output force.

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