Investigating Levers- Crit.

A & B
How does the length of the effort arm affect the effort force needed
to balance the load in a lever?

Background Information

What are Levers?

In simple words, a lever is a simple machine (a machine with no or few moving parts used to make human
labour easier) used traditionally to move, lift, or apply forced to object with less force than usually needed. A
lever usually has a rigid bar that pivots from/around a fixed point. This fixed point is called the fulcrum. Levers
allow us to amplify our potency, henceforth making it easier to complete task the require power or precision.

What are Levers made up of?

The simple concept of a lever is basic. A lever is a simple machine in which you apply force to one end on the
rigid bar. This point of the application of force is called the effort. We use the effort to move an object at the
other end. The object at the other is end is called the load. The distance in between the fulcrum (the pivot, also
known as the turning point) and the effort is called the ‘effort arm’. Next, the distance in between the fulcrum
and the load is called the ‘load arm’. There are three different classes of levers. We achieve this by changing the
positions of the effort, fulcrum, and load. Something to keep in handy is the lever can either increase the
distance the load moves, or a lever can increase the force applied to the load.

What are the different types of levers?

These are the three different classes of lever as stated above. The first type of lever is the First-Class Lever. This
is where the fulcrum is situated in between the effort and the load, this is the most commonly known lever. An
example of this can be a seesaw. The next type of lever is the Second-Class Lever. This is the type of lever where
the load is situated between the fulcrum and the effort. This (and the Third-Class lever are less known than the
First-Class Lever, nonetheless, they are as commonly used). A common example of this is a nutcracker. Finally,
the last type of lever is a Third-Class Lever. This is the type of lever when the effort is situated in between the
fulcrum and the load. The utmost common example of Third-Class Lever is a pair of tweezers. A common
acronym used to memorize the different type of levers is ELF. This states the levers from the Opposite order
(From Third-Class Lever to First Class Lever). Where the ‘E’ stands for effort as that is situated in the Middle in
the case of Third-Class Levers. Where the ‘L’ stands for the load as the load is situated in the middle in the case
of the Second-Class Lever. Finally, whereas the ‘F’ stands for fulcrum, as in the case of the First Class-Lever the
fulcrum is in between the effort and the load.
What is the history behind Levers?
The lever is a simple machine the humans have appreciated for thousands of years and will do so in the
thousands of years to come. For example, the pyramids of Egypt were built approximately around 5000 BC,
where the ancient Egyptians used levers to assist them in the building efforts. Nevertheless, the official inventor
of the theory behind levers is the famous Greek Mathematician, Archimedes, (though this may not actually be
the case, nevertheless he is credited with the title). When understanding and creating levers Archimedes said,
“Give me a place to stand, I shall move the Earth.”

How is Mechanical Advantage related to Levers?

Mechanical advantage and levers are almost synonymous. Mechanical advantage can be known is short as MA.
This is a physics concept which can measure how much a machine, (in this case a lever), can amplify the input
force. This to make moving a load easier. When discussing levers, MA is dependant on the distance between the
applied force, the load, and the fulcrum. The formula for Mechanical advantage is the effort arm/load arm.

MA= Effort arm/Load Arm

In this case the effort arm is the distance from the fulcrum to the place where force is applied. Additionally, the
load arm the is the distance from the fulcrum (the pivot point) to the load. By tinkering the lengths of the effort
arm and load arm, a lever may increase the applied force. This can allow a smaller input force to help move a
larger load. This theory can help classify levers as highly efficient tools, who can lift relatively heavy objects
with relatively less effort.

What is the formula to express the concept behind levers?

The concept of levers is synonymous with the concept equilibrium. The equilibrium is a state where all the
forces (the load and the effort) are so balanced. This leads to no movement around the fulcrum. When a lever is
in equilibrium a lever is balanced. In simpler words, when a lever is in equilibrium, the load and the effort are
faultlessly distributed around the fulcrum, this means that the lever will neither tip to the side of the effort nor
the side of the load.

The formula states the concept behind levers in equilibrium is:

Where (F)Load is the force put in by the load. This is considered the resistance or the weight of the
object to be moved, as it is the weight it is also considered the force of gravity (measured in
Newtons). The formula is the force of gravity (Newtons) = Mass (kg) x Gravitational Acceleration
(m/s2 ). Where (R)Load consists of the distance from the pivot point (the fulcrum) to the load. This is
more commonly known as, the load arm. The (R)Load affect how much torque (turning effect of
force) the load exercises about the fulcrum. Where (F)Effort is the force, you apply to move the load.
Where (R)Effort is the distance between (from) the fulcrum (the pivot point) to the point where you
apply the force. This is most referred to as the effort arm.

Explained with basic terminology, the formula stated above represents that the torques (the turning
effect of force) created by the effort on one side of the fulcrum should balance the torque created by
the load on the other side of the fulcrum for the lever to say in the state of equilibrium (this means
the lever is not rotating and is balanced). Torque (the turning effect of force) is calculated with the
formula:

Torque = 𝐹 ⋅ 𝑅

Where ‘f’ is the force of gravity (measured in Newtons) and ‘r’ is the distance between the force and
pivot.

When we increase the (R) Effort, (the effort arm), it lets a smaller (F) Effort to balance (to keep it in
equilibrium) or lift a larger load, (F) Load. The reason behind this is because when we lengthen the
distance from the fulcrum, it increases the torque (The turning effect of force) created by the (F)
Effort. Henceforth, when you lengthen the (R) Effort, you can apply less force to attain the same
amount of torque (turning effect of force) required to lift the load.

Therefore, if we go vice versa, and the (R)Effort is decreased, a greater (F)Effort would be required to
balance the load (since our whole experiment is rooted on how to keep the lever in equilibrium).
When we decrease the distance between the effort point and the fulcrum, the torque generated from
the (F)effort will therefore decrease. This means when we shorten the (R)effort we will need more (F)
effort in order to keep the lever in equilibrium.

When in state of equilibrium, the torque staying in a state of balance is generated by the load and
effort and depends on the length of the two arms. If the (R)Load, (load arm) is longer than the
(R)Effort (effort arm), it may be considered that a smaller (F)Effort will be required. Vice versa, if the
(R)Effort (effort arm) is longer, than more (F)load is required to keep the lever in equilibrium.

Hypothesis
Add a predicted Graph.
We hypothesize that, in a lever when we increase the length of the (R)Effort it decreases the (F)Effort
needed to balance the load decreases. The concept is based on the theory behind levers. The theory
affirms that the longer (R)Effort the easier it is to balance the load.

The state of equilibrium is achieved in a lever if the torque (turning effect of force) generated by the
(F)Load is equal to the torque generated by the (F)Effort. Torque (the turning effect of force) is
calculated with the formula: “Torque = r x f.” Where ‘f’ is the force of gravity (measured in Newtons)
and ‘r’ is the distance between the force and pivot. Meaning that for the provided load, increasing
the (R)Effort permits the same torque to be attained using less force.

By example, if we multiply the (R)Effort by two, the (F)effort required should be divided by two. This
is because a longer arm allows less force keeping the same amount of torque.

In order to prove this, we will test this by changing the length of the (R)Effort while keeping (F)Load
and (R)Load the same. We will change the length with increments of 4 cm, that is starting at 4cm and
ending at 20 cm. At each (R)Effort length (4cm, 8cm, 12cm, 16cm, 20cm), we will measure the
(F)Effort needed to balance the load using a Newton Meter. We will measure the force needed to
keep the in equilibrium for each length. If my hypothesis is correct, we will be able to see crystal
clear trends. This is due to the fact that when the (R)Effort increase, the F(Effort) needed to balance
the load decreases as stated above.

Independent variable Dependent variable Controlled variables

Effort arm. {(R)Effort}. This Force effort. {(F)Effort}. This Load arm. The length of the
variable is the length of the variable is the weight of the arm that holds the load.
effort arm. mass on the effort arm. The load arm will remain at the
same place to make sure that
We chose this as our We chose the weight of effort we are only measuring the
independent variable since it side, because this is also easy force on the effort side.
was a variable that was easy to to measure, since we are using
measure. We know that it is weights that already have a We have chosen the load arm
easy to measure since on the measured mass. We are simply as a controlled variable in our
beam there are measuring adding more weights to keep experiment in order to seclude
points, that are the same the lever in equilibrium. it from the impact
distance from the fulcrum. We chose the load arm as the
controlled variable to isolate
the impact of changes in the
effort arm on the effort force
required to balance the load.
By keeping the load arm
constant, we ensure that the
distance between the load and
the fulcrum remains the same
throughout the experiment,
which allows us to measure
the effect of varying only the
effort arm length.
 Load force. The downwards
force of load on the load side
of the lever.
The load force will remain the
same

Environment. The environment

will always be the same around
the experiment.

How will you change this? How will you measure this? For each variable, how will you
keep it the same?
We will measure the weight
We will change the with the masses that we use to We will keep the load arm and
independent variable by change the force of the effort the load force constant by
moving the weight around. arm. securing the position of the
load arm. If we want to keep
the load force the same we will
use a fixed mass. Additional
thing we can keep the load f
and the load arm the same is
minimize movement of the
setup of the lever.

Procedure
1. Make sure to set up the Lever: Make sure to position the lever

Diagram

Equipment list

1. Metal lever with holes (hinge already attached) (x1)

2. The support for the lever (x1)
3. The attachment parts of the lever (so assure that the lever stays in place)
4. Base for the support (x1)
5. Weights for experiment (x5)
6. Ruler (to measure distance) (x1)
 7. Book with table in (to record information) (x1)
8. Newton Meter (x1)

Safety notes

• When taking weights off an arm remember to hold the other arm to avoid the contraption
from swinging.
• Why carrying weights make sure to hold them well, if you drop them, you could damage
the weight, floor or yourself.
• When the teacher is speaking, or you need to leave the classroom take the weights off the
lever.
• When attaching the weights to the lever make sure they are fully attached before you let
go.
• Don’t spin the lever because it will break the hinge.
• If the lever is having trouble moving do not force it, call a teacher.
• When all is assembled make sure that the lever mechanism in placed on a stable place with
no falling hazard.
• Handle with care for these machines are very delicate
• To ensure our classmates safety make sure to only have one lever per table.