If a force of 380 N is applied to the end of a 2 meter crowbar order to lift a 500N rock and if the fulcrum of the bar is 0.5 meters from the rock. What is the efficiency of the lever?
To start, what is the formula for efficiency?
I have a sheet with all formulas we used
Mechanical Advantage = Output Force/Input Force
Speed Ratio = Input Distance/Output Distance
Work = Force x Distance
Efficiency = Mechanical Advantage/Speed Ratio x 100
or
Efficiency = Work Output/ Work Input x 100
the question also uses 2 formulas
To calculate the efficiency of a lever, we need to know the mechanical advantage (MA) and the ideal mechanical advantage (IMA) of the lever.
The mechanical advantage (MA) of a lever can be calculated by dividing the distance from the applied force to the fulcrum by the distance from the load to the fulcrum.
In this case, the distance from the applied force to the fulcrum is 2 meters, and the distance from the load to the fulcrum is 0.5 meters. Therefore, the mechanical advantage (MA) can be computed as follows:
MA = Distance from applied force to fulcrum / Distance from load to fulcrum
MA = 2 meters / 0.5 meters
MA = 4
The ideal mechanical advantage (IMA) of a lever is the ratio of the force exerted by the applied force to the force exerted by the load. In this case, the force exerted by the applied force is 380 N, and the force exerted by the load is 500 N. Therefore, the ideal mechanical advantage (IMA) can be calculated as follows:
IMA = Force exerted by applied force / Force exerted by load
IMA = 380 N / 500 N
IMA = 0.76
Now, to calculate the efficiency of the lever, we can use the formula:
Efficiency = MA / IMA
Efficiency = 4 / 0.76
Efficiency ≈ 5.26 or 526%
Therefore, the efficiency of the lever is approximately 526%.