Name: Taylor Cooper
Period: 2
Foundations of Technology
Online Distance Learning: The Engineering Design Process
File DL.1.1: Mechanical Advantage
The Engineering Design Process
Mechanical Advantage Review
Date: 3/24/20
Directions:​ Use the appropriate equation to answer the following questions. All answers should
be recorded below or in your engineering design journal. Remember to show all work.
1. A lever has an effort arm that is 8 meters long and the
resistance (load) arm that is
1.5 meters long, how much effort is needed to lift a 200
Newton weight? ​114.67 N
2. Two boys want to balance a seesaw perfectly. One boy
weighs 120 pounds and is sitting four feet from the
fulcrum. The other boy weighs 80 pounds. Where should
the lighter boy sit to balance the seesaw? ​ 6ft
3. You wish to lift a 12,000 lb stone by a vertical
distance of 15 ft. Unfortunately, you can only
generate a maximum pushing force of 2,000 lb.
a. What is the amount of work you must input
in order to move the stone?
b. What is the actual mechanical advantage (AMA) required by a machine to complete the
work
c. You build a ramp to create the ideal mechanical advantage. What is the length of the ramp
in feet?
4. You wish to lift a 400 lb car engine a vertical
distance of 3 ft using a strong rope. Unfortunately,
your hand crank winch can only generate 100 lb of
tension in your rope. In order to overcome this
obstacle, you use a multiple pulley system (block
and tackle) to lift the engine.
a. What is the mechanical advantage of this
system?
b.
What length of rope is required to complete
the work?
5. A wheel is used to turn a valve stem on a water valve. The
wheel radius is 4 inches and the axle radius is .25 inches.
a. What is the mechanical advantage of the wheel and
axle? ​1
b. How much resistance force can be overcome when an effort of 6 lbs is applied to the
wheel of the water valve in this problem?
6. A mechanic uses a screwdriver with a handle of 1.5in to install a ¼ -20 UNC bolt into a
mechanical brace. What is the mechanical advantage of the system? What is the resistance
force if the effort force is 5lbs.
7. Find the Mechanical Advantage and the maximum separation load for a wedge (length = 6
inches and height = 3 inches) used to split a piece of wood. The effort load applied is 80 lb.