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Pulleys and mechanical advantage

Change supporting strands and compare lift height with pull distance.

    E02 · Pulleys and mechanical advantage0.00 s · Ready

    Mechanical Engineering · Machines and forces / Principles and inquiry

    Pulleys and mechanical advantage experiment guide

    Change supporting strands and compare lift height with pull distance.

    How does it work?

    Force falls by the strand count while required pull distance grows.

    Key relationship

    F = mg/n · h = s/n · Fs = mgh

    Try this investigation

    1. Change supporting strands and compare lift height with pull distance.
    2. Run and record each of the three reference settings.
    3. Change one variable and compare force, deformation or response with the reference records.

    Interpreting your results

    What is conserved in an ideal pulley?

    Input work equals potential energy · Force falls by the strand count while required pull distance grows.

    Assumptions and limitations

    Rope and pulley mass, friction and stretch are ignored. Rope drawing is scaled to explain displacement ratios. Do not reproduce real load tests.