12the Guide To Pulleys12

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🤓The

Guide to
Pulleys
😵‍💫
INTRODUCTION
Pulley, in mechanics, a
wheel that carries a
flexible rope, cord,
cable, chain, or belt on
its rim. Pulleys are used
singly or in combination
to transmit energy and
motion. They are simply
a collection of one or
more wheels over which
you loop a rope (or
chain) to make it easier
to lift things. Pulleys are
examples of what
scientists call simple
machines. That doesn't
mean they're packed
with engines and gears;
it just means they help
us multiply forces.
A Quick Note
from A Levers 🥸
A lever is a simple
machine consisting of a
beam or rigid rod
pivoted at a fixed hinge,
or fulcrum. A lever is a
rigid body capable of
rotating on a point on
itself. On the basis of the
locations of fulcrum,
load and effort, the lever
is divided into three
types,

History 👴
The earliest evidence of
the lever mechanism
dates back to the
ancient Near East c.
5000 BC, when it was
first used in a simple
balance scale. In ancient
Egypt c. 4400 BC, a foot
pedal was used for the
earliest horizontal frame
loom.[4] In Mesopotamia
(modern Iraq) c. 3000
BC, the shadouf, a
crane-like device that
uses a lever mechanism,
was invented.[3] In
ancient Egypt, workmen
used the lever to move
and uplift obelisks
weighing more than 100
tons.
Back to the Topic 😶
The power into the lever
equals the power out,
and the ratio of output
to input force is given by
the ratio of the
distances from the
fulcrum to the points of
application of these
forces. This is known as
the law of the lever.
The types of Levers
Class I – Fulcrum is
located between the
effort and the
resistance: The effort is
applied on one side of
the fulcrum and the
resistance (or load) on
the other side. For
example, a seesaw, a
crowbar, a pair of
scissors, a balance
scale, a pair of pliers,
and a claw hammer
(pulling a nail). With the
fulcrum in the middle,
the lever's mechanical
advantage may be
greater than, less than,
or even equal to 1.

Class II – Resistance (or


load) is located between
the effort and the
fulcrum: The effort is
applied on one side of
the resistance and the
fulcrum is located on the
other side, e.g. a
wheelbarrow, a
nutcracker, a bottle
opener, a wrench, and
the brake pedal of a car.
Since the load arm is
smaller than the effort
arm, the lever's
mechanical advantage is
always greater than 1. It
is also called a force
multiplier lever.

Class III – Effort is


located between the
resistance and the
fulcrum: The resistance
(or load) is applied on
one side of the effort
and the fulcrum is
located on the other
side, e.g. a pair of
tweezers, a hammer, a
pair of tongs, a fishing
rod, and the mandible of
a human skull. Since the
effort arm is smaller
than the load arm, the
lever's mechanical
advantage is always less
than 1. It is also called a
speed multiplier lever.
The more wheels you
have, and the more
times you loop the rope
around them, the more
you can lift.
In engineering, the kind
of pulley I've been
describing here is
sometimes called a
block and tackle: the
wheels and their mounts
are the blocks and the
ropes that loop around
them are the tackle.
You can probably see
that a pulley magnifies
force in a similar way to
a seesaw, which is a
kind of lever. If you want
to lift someone four
times heavier than you
on a seesaw, you need
to sit four times further
away from the balancing
point (fulcrum) than
they are. If you move
your end of the lever
down by 4cm, their end
of the seesaw moves up
only 1cm. As they rise
up, they gain a certain
amount of potential
energy equal to their
weight multiplied by the
distance they move. You
lose exactly the same
amount of energy—
equal to your weight
(four times smaller)
times the distance you
move (four times
larger). You can shift
their much bigger
weight because you
move your end of the
seesaw over a much
bigger distance: the
leverage of the seesaw
makes it possible to
produce more force by
working over a bigger
distance.
The same thing is
happening with a pulley,
except that you're
pulling on a rope instead
of moving the end of a
seesaw. To lift something
four times heavier, you
can use exactly the
same force but only if
you pull the rope four
times further. If you look
at what's happening on
both sides of a pulley,
and multiply the force
by the distance moved,
you'll find it's the same.
On your side, you use a
small force over a large
distance. On the other
side, there's a much
bigger weight but it's
moving a smaller
distance.

Virtual Work 🥴
Imagine you have a
super cool magic rope,
and you want to lift a
really heavy box. But
lifting it by yourself is
too hard. So, you decide
to use a pulley system.

Now, you grab your


magic rope and loop it
around a pulley. Then,
you pull down on one
end of the rope. Guess
what happens? The
heavy box starts to go
up! But here's the fun
part: you're not lifting
the box directly with
your hands. The pulley
is helping you do it!

So, even though you're


not touching the box
directly, you're still
making it move up by
pulling on the rope.
That's like doing work
without actually lifting
the box with your hands.
It's like using a magical
helper to make things
happen! And that's how
virtual work with pulleys
works—it's like doing
magic with ropes and
wheels!

Alright, let's simplify it


for a 5-year-old!

Imagine you have a big


seesaw in a playground,
and you're sitting on one
end while your friend
sits on the other. When
you push down on your
side, your friend goes
up, right? That's like
doing work! You're
making something
happen by pushing.

Now, think about a


pulley system like a
magical rope that helps
you lift heavy stuff. You
pull the rope, and the
heavy thing goes up!
But guess what? You're
not lifting it directly with
your hands; the pulley is
helping you. So, it's like
doing work without
actually touching the
heavy thing!

In simple words, virtual


work is like making
things move or change,
even if you're not
directly touching them,
just like when you play
with a seesaw or use a
pulley to lift something
heavy. It's kind of like
doing a magic trick with
forces!
Mechanical Advantage
☠️
Mechanical advantage is
a measurement of how
much a simple machine
multiples a force. The
bigger the mechanical
advantage, the less
force you need, but the
greater the distance you
have to use that force.
You pull with less force,
but you have to pull
further (and, generally
speaking, use the force
for longer).
Mechanical advantage is
a concept that helps us
understand how
machines, like levers,
pulleys, or gears, can
make tasks easier to
accomplish.

Imagine you have to lift


a heavy object, like a big
bucket of toys. If you try
to lift it directly with
your hands, it might be
really hard. But if you
use a tool or a machine,
like a lever or a pulley,
you can make it much
easier.

Mechanical advantage is
a measure of how much
easier a machine makes
a task. For example:
Levers: If you use a
lever to lift the bucket,
the long end of the lever
gives you more
leverage, so you don't
have to push as hard to
lift the same weight. The
mechanical advantage
of a lever depends on
the length of its arms.

Pulleys: With pulleys,


you can lift heavy things
by pulling a rope instead
of lifting directly. Each
pulley you add makes it
easier to lift the load.
The mechanical
advantage of a pulley
system depends on the
number of ropes
supporting the load.

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