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What is a force?

A force is either a push or pull action that can cause an object to change
shape or position.
 What is work?

The transfer of energy of a force is called work.

Work done (J) = Force (N) x distance moved in the direction of the force (m)
Example 1:
Annie lift an object that has a weight of 50 N up from the ground and put it on a table that is 30 cm above the ground. a) How much work has Annie
done?

Work (J)= Force (N) x distance moved in the direction of the force (m)

= 50N x (30/100) m = 50 N x 0.3 m = 15 N

Annie has done 15 N of work.

Example 2:
Kevin has done 20 J of work from carrying books from the classroom to the library. The distance between the classroom and the library is 2 meters.
What is the weight of the books?

Force (N) = Work (J) / distanced moved in the direction of the force (m)
= 20 J / 2 m = 10 N

The weight of the books is 10 N.

Example 3:
Bella has done 100 J of work carrying objects she bought from the supermarket to her car. If the weight of the objects is 40 N, what is the distance
from the supermarket to the car?

Distance moved in the direction of the force (m) = Work (J) / Force (N)
= 100 J / 40 N = 2.5 m

The distance from the supermarket to the car is 2.5 m.

 What is power?

Power is the rate of doing work or the amount of energy transferred per unit
time.

𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 (𝑱)

𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝑾 =
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 (𝒔)
For work to be done,
• A force is exerted on the object
• The object is displaced.
Example 1:

A generator makes use 1500 J of energy to do work in 5 minutes. How much power does it use?

Work done = energy

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 (𝐽) 1500 𝐽 1500 𝐽

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑊 = = = =5𝑊
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 (𝑠) 5 × 60 𝑠 300 𝑠

The generator uses 5 W of power.

Example 2:
An electric car uses 300 W of power to do work in 1 hour. How much energy does the electric car make use of?

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜ne = energy

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝐽 = 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑊 × 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑠 = 300 × 60 × 60 𝑠 = 1,080,000 𝐽

The electric car makes use of 1,080,000 J of energy.

Example 3:
How long does it take for a hair dryer to make use of 500 J of energy with 50 W of power?

Work done = energy

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 ( 𝐽) 500 𝐽
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑠 = = = 10 s
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 (𝑊) 50 𝑊
 Levers

A lever is a simple machine that can be used to increase the

size of the force.

A force applied at a large distance from the pivot is able to lift a large load
nearer to the pivot .
 Distance multipliers

Levers that produce decrease forces but increased the distance an

object moves are called distance multipliers.
 What is mechanical advantage?

Mechanical advantage (MA) is a measure of performances of the machine. It tells you whether the
output of the forces of the machines is equal to, less or more than the input force.

𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅 (𝑵) 𝑰𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒎 ( 𝒎)

𝑴𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑴𝑨 = =
𝑰𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 (𝑵) 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒎 (𝒎)

The longer the input arm, the greater the mechanical advantage
Example 1:
a. A lever has an input arm of 2 meters and an output arm of 0.5 meters. What is the mechanical advantage of the lever?

𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑚 (𝑚) 2𝑚

𝑀𝐴 = = =4
𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑚 (𝑚) 0.5 𝑚
The mechanical advantage is 4.

b. If a force of 100 Newtons is applied to the input arm, what is the output force of the lever?

𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑁 = 𝑀𝐴 × 𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑁 = 4 × 100 𝑁 = 400 𝑁

The output force is 400 N.

Example 2:
a. A lever has an input force of 500 N and an output force of 2500 N. What is the mechanical advantage of the lever?
𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 (𝑁) 2500 𝑁
𝑀𝐴 = = =5
𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 (𝑁) 500 𝑁
The mechanical advantage is 5.

b. If the output arm is 4 meters, what is the input arm of the lever?
𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑚 = 𝑀𝐴 × 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑚 = 5 × 4 𝑚 = 20 𝑚
The input arm is 20 meters.
 3 Classes of levers

• First class of levers

• Second class of
levers
• Third class of levers
 First class of levers

• Pivot is positioned between the load and effort

• Direction of output force is always different from that of the input force
• More mechanical advantage if the load is closer to the pivot
• Examples: Crowbar, Scissors, and see-saw

Pivot
 Second class of levers

• Load is positioned between the pivot and effort

• Effort is always less than the load
• More mechanical advantage if the load is closer to the pivot
• Examples: Wheelbarrow, bottle opener and nut cracker

Pivot
 Third class of levers

• Effort is positioned between the pivot and load

• Effort is closer to the pivot than the load
• Effort is always greater than the load but the load moves farther than the effort force at a
greater speed
• Examples: Shovels, tweezers, and fishing rod

Pivot Pivot
 Inclined Planes

An inclined plane is a sloped flat surface (ramp) with no moving parts.

Less effort is needed to move an object from a low to a higher level using an inclined plane than
lifting the object.
B

Height

Effort = output force

𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉

𝑴𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑴𝑨 = =
𝒊𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

The mechanical advantage increases as the angle of slope inclined decreases

 Wedge

• A wedge is an inclined plane with one or more sloping sides that move.
• The shape of the wedge causes the output force to be in different direction
than output force.
• The mechanical advantage of the wedge increases as the wedge is sharper
(longer with a thin tip)
• Examples: Knife and axes
 Screws

• A screw is an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder.

• The threads on the screw change the input force to an output force.
• The output force can pull or push the object together.
• Similar examples: drills, bolts, nuts, jar lids, and light bulbs.
• The close the threads (pitch), the greater the mechanical advantage.
 Wheels and Axles

An axle is a rod attached to the centre of the wheels and allows the wheel to rotate around it.
The centre of the axle is the pivot.
 How do wheels and axles work? (Way 1)

Forced is applied to the wheel

• Example: door knob
• The knob is the wheel and the central shaft through the door is the axle.
• When force is applied to the knob, the shaft rotates in smaller distance and retracts the latch
with greater output force. This allows the door to be opened.
• Mechanical advantage: >1
 How do wheels and axles work? (Way 2)

Forced is applied to the axle

• Example: Ferris Wheel
• When force is applied to the axle, wheel moves a greater distance than the axle and turns
faster with less output force.
• Mechanical advantage : >1
 Gears

• Gears can be used to increase force or increase speed, BUT not at the same time.
• Smaller gears complete more rotations and turns faster with less force.
• Biggers gears turn slowly with more force in the same amount of time as the small gear.
 Wheels and Axles Mechanical Advantage Formula

𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒍 (𝑹)

𝑴𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑴𝑨 =
𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒙𝒍𝒆 (𝒓)

The bigger the wheel, the less force is needed to do work.

 Pulleys

• A wheel and axle with ropes or chains in the grooves

• Used to move, raise or lower heavy objects.
• If a single pulley is used, the upward force is the same size as the downwards force.
• 3 types of pulley:
• Fixed pulley
• Movable pulley
• Combined pulley
 Fixed Pulleys

• The rope moves in the grooves, but the wheel is fixed and cannot moved.
• Can only changed the direction of the force as the rope is pulled.
• MA of this pulley = 1.
• Examples: flag poles and window blinds
 Movable Pulleys

• A pulley that is free to move, with a load attached to it

• One side of the pulley is fixed to the ceiling or beam.
• MA of this pulley = 2, since the pulley is supported by 2 lengths of the same rope.
• Examples: weight-lifting machines, cranes or elevators
 Combined Pulleys

• Combination of fixed and movable pulleys arranged to work together.

• 2 or more ropes supporting the pulley
• MA depends on the number of rope segments between the pulley.
• Greatly reduces the amount of force needed to lift an object.
• Examples: block and tackle pulley system
 Efficiency

• Law of conservation of energy: total output energy must be equal to input energy
• However, some input energy maybe lost as heat energy due to friction.

𝑼𝒔𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚

𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 =
𝑰𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚
Simple machines in human body