Levers

Thu, 30 Sep 2010

Levers are an essential part of many mechanisms. They can be used to change the amount, the strength and the direction of movement.
The position of the force and the load are interchangeable and by moving them to different points on the lever, different effects can be produced. The fixed point of the lever about which it moves is known as the fulcrum. In this example the force and the load move in opposite directions. With the force three times closer to the fulcrum them the load lifted is only one third of the force but it moves three times as far.
First order lever. Like a see-saw or balance, the load and the force are separated by the fulcrum. As one moves up the other moves down. The amount and the strength of the movement is proportional to the distance from the fulcrum
Second order lever. A wheel barrow is a second order lever. Here the load is between the force and the fulcrum.
This uses mechanical advantage to ease lifting of a large weight.
Third order lever.
Here the force is between the fulcrum and the load. Mechanical advantage is reduced but the movement at the load point is increased.

 

  To receive new blog posts by email

Comments (25)

  • Anonymous December 4, 2010 at 1:33 pm

    please can you explain more

    please can you explain more than just 1 sentence 

    thank you

    • robives December 4, 2010 at 2:14 pm

      Sure, what do you want to

      Sure, what do you want to know?

      • Anonymous October 3, 2011 at 3:25 pm

        What are the 5 main

        What are the 5 main mechanisms?

         

        • robives October 3, 2011 at 5:00 pm

          lever, linkages, grumpy,

          lever, linkages, grumpy, sleepy and salt & vinegar.

          —

          Anyone any idea?

          • maxlrainer October 4, 2011 at 4:51 pm

            Maybe the classical simple

            Maybe the classical simple machines are meant:

                Lever
                Wheel and axle
                Pulley
                Inclined plane
                Wedge
                Screw

          • Anonymous November 15, 2011 at 5:11 pm

            are levers basically pivots

            are levers basically pivots or not?

          • Smelter November 22, 2011 at 10:19 am

            Levers are beams that rotate

            Levers are beams that rotate about a pivot point.

            Basically an arm on a hinge. 

          • Smelter September 23, 2012 at 3:44 pm

            And gears are just levers in

            And gears are just levers in a circle.

            http://www.wimp.com/manualtransmission/

            Nice find Smelter! – RI

          • Anonymous January 31, 2013 at 6:35 pm

            no 1st class levers have

            no 1st class levers have pivots like a see-saw a pivot is a fulcrum

          • waterrocketsrule January 16, 2013 at 9:44 am

            .

            “lever, linkages, grumpy,

            .

            "lever, linkages, grumpy, sleepy and salt & vinegar.

            —

            Anyone any idea?"

             

            Thats funny LOLOLOLO

          • Smelter January 16, 2013 at 1:28 pm

            Tired “teacher” joke.

            Tired "teacher" joke. Northern England humour.

        • Anonymous December 18, 2013 at 1:00 pm

          In my knowledge flowing are
          In my knowledge flowing are the main 5 type of mechanisms,

          1. Levers (Linkages)
          2. Gears
          3. Wheels and Axle
          4. Wedges, Screw and Cam
          5. Pulley

      • Anonymous November 21, 2011 at 2:07 pm

        some examples of third order

        some examples of third order lever

         

         

        • Anonymous February 21, 2012 at 12:57 am

          fishin rod is an example of a

          fishin rod is an example of a third class lever

  • Anonymous May 17, 2012 at 8:29 am

    marry me rob!! i am in love

    marry me rob!! i am in love with your drawings!! i love you!!

    • Anonymous September 11, 2012 at 10:07 am

      oh rob i   love you to

      oh rob i   love you to

  • Anonymous September 26, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    I learned a lot from this

    I learned a lot from this website. I didn't fail computer class even! How awesome is that!?

    Very! – RI

  • Anonymous October 3, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    Rob Ives, do you specifically

    Rob Ives, do you specifically publish and generate everything on this website? If you do, I am awed. This web is amazing!

    Yes I do 🙂 – RI

  • Anonymous March 26, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    does anybody know what

    does anybody know what mechanisms to look at to turn downward vertical force into lateral force?

    Bell crank I reckon – RI

  • Anonymous April 22, 2014 at 2:15 am

    i believe you meant “but it
    i believe you meant “but it moveS three times as far.” you put but it move

    Thanks – correction made – RI

    y

  • Anonymous May 9, 2014 at 6:42 pm

    This helped me like alot. It
    This helped me like alot. It is like THE best website ever! I like science! me + science = FOREVER <3 <3 <3

  • Trelligan January 20, 2015 at 5:19 am

       There are a few simple

       There are a few simple machines, the list is variable because some can be included in another's group. Wikipedia has a better explanation than I can come up with.

     

     

    Here is one listing:

    1 Lever
    2 Wheel and axle
    3 Pulley
    4 Inclined plane
    5 Wedge
    6 Screw

       You could say that they are all a form of lever, if you give up the 'rigid arm' part of the definition. And a wedge is an inclined plane (or two), etc.

     

       I believe Rob has used every one of these in multiple creations, plus elaborations.

    • Smelter January 20, 2015 at 8:52 am

      I think someone is taking a

      I think someone is taking a liberal definition of a machine.
      An inclined plane, a wedge and a screw are single part objects, they don't do anything (move) unless combined with something else, and even then I wouldn't call them machines. Mechanisms possibly.
      Debate!
      • TLS_Teacher_01 April 2, 2016 at 7:55 pm

        I agree with “Mechanisms” …

        I agree with "Mechanisms" … looking at an engineering textbook of sorts and it tells me that "Reuleaux's Six Mechanical Elements" are:

        1. Levers and Cranks (such as is used to open a window).

        2. Wheels and gears (such as that used to make a transformer).

        3. Cams (such as that to open and close valves in automobile engines).

        4. Screws (such as a worm gear connected to a motor shaft).

        5. Things to transmit tension or compression (such as belts or chains used to drive the wheel of a motorcycle).

        6. Things that transmit intermittent motion (such as the ratchet used in a clock mechanism).

        Reference: Engineering Design, An Introduction, 2nd Edition  Karsnitz*O'Brien*Hutchinson ISBN-10: 1-111-64582-5

  • hugh jazz March 22, 2017 at 1:52 pm

    I WANT YOU TO SLIDE YOUR

    I WANT YOU TO SLIDE YOUR CRANK INTO ME ROB

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.