Alex pulls on the handle of a claw hammer with a force of 15 N. If the hammer has a mechanical advantage of 5.2, how much force is exerted on a nail in the claw?
To find the force exerted on the nail, we need to calculate the output force using the mechanical advantage of the hammer.
The mechanical advantage (MA) of a machine is defined as the ratio of the output force (Fout) to the input force (Fin):
MA = Fout / Fin
Given that the mechanical advantage (MA) of the hammer is 5.2, we can set up the equation:
5.2 = Fout / 15 N
To solve for Fout, we can rearrange the equation:
Fout = 5.2 * 15 N
Fout = 78 N
Therefore, the force exerted on the nail by the claw hammer is 78 N.