Pulley

For the band, see Pulley (band). For the village, see In the diagram on the right the mechanical advantage of
Pulley, Shropshire. For the American photographer, see each of the block and tackle assemblies[5] shown is as folGerald P. Pulley.
lows:
A pulley is a wheel on an axle that is designed to support
movement and change of direction of a cable or belt along
its circumference.[1] Pulleys are used in a variety of ways
to lift loads, apply forces, and to transmit power. In nautical contexts, the assembly of wheel, axle, and supporting
shell is referred to as a block.

Gun Tackle: 2

A pulley is also called a sheave or drum and may have

a groove between two anges around its circumference.
The drive element of a pulley system can be a rope, cable,
belt, or chain that runs over the pulley inside the groove.

Threefold purchase: 6

Lu Tackle: 3
Double Tackle: 4
Gyn Tackle: 5

2 Rope and pulley systems

Hero of Alexandria identied the pulley as one of six

simple machines used to lift weights.[2] Pulleys are assembled to form a block and tackle in order to provide
mechanical advantage to apply large forces. Pulleys are
also assembled as part of belt and chain drives in order to
transmit power from one rotating shaft to another.[3][4]

Block and tackle

Various ways of rigging a tackle.[5]

A set of pulleys assembled so that they rotate independently on the same axle form a block. Two blocks with a
Pulley in oil derrick
rope attached to one of the blocks and threaded through
the two sets of pulleys form a block and tackle.[6][7]
A rope and pulley system -- that is, a block and tackle A block and tackle is assembled so one block is attached - is characterised by the use of a single continuous rope
to xed mounting point and the other is attached to the to transmit a tension force around one or more pulleys
moving load. The mechanical advantage of the block and to lift or move a loadthe rope may be a light line or a
tackle is equal to the number of parts of the rope that strong cable. This system is included in the list of simple
machines identied by Renaissance scientists.[8][9]
support the moving block.
1

2 ROPE AND PULLEY SYSTEMS

2.1 How it works

The simplest theory of operation for a pulley system assumes that the pulleys and lines are weightless, and that
there is no energy loss due to friction. It is also assumed
that the lines do not stretch.
In equilibrium, the forces on the moving block must sum
to zero. In addition the tension in the rope must be the
same for each of its parts. This means that the two parts
of the rope supporting the moving block must each support half the load.
Fixed pulley
Diagram 1: The load F on the moving pulley is balanced by the tension in two parts of the rope supporting the pulley.
Movable pulley
Diagram 2: A movable pulley lifting the load W is
supported by two rope parts with tension W/2.
These are dierent types of pulley systems:
A hoist using the compound pulley system yielding an advantage
of 4. The single xed pulley is installed on the hoist (device). The
two movable pulleys (joined together) are attached to the hook.
One end of the rope is attached to the crane frame, another to
the winch.

If the rope and pulley system does not dissipate or store

energy, then its mechanical advantage is the number of
parts of the rope that act on the load. This can be shown
as follows.
Consider the set of pulleys that form the moving block
and the parts of the rope that support this block. If there
are p of these parts of the rope supporting the load W,
then a force balance on the moving block shows that the
tension in each of the parts of the rope must be W/p. This
means the input force on the rope is T=W/p. Thus, the
block and tackle reduces the input force by the factor p.
A gun tackle has a single pulley in both the xed
and moving blocks with two rope parts supporting
the load W.
Separation of the pulleys in the gun tackle show the
force balance that results in a rope tension of W/2.

Fixed: A xed pulley has an axle mounted in bearings attached to a supporting structure. A xed pulley changes the direction of the force on a rope or
belt that moves along its circumference. Mechanical advantage is gained by combining a xed pulley
with a movable pulley or another xed pulley of a
dierent diameter.
Movable: A movable pulley has an axle in a movable block. A single movable pulley is supported by
two parts of the same rope and has a mechanical advantage of two.
Compound: A combination of xed and a movable
pulleys forms a block and tackle. A block and tackle
can have several pulleys mounted on the xed and
moving axles, further increasing the mechanical advantage.
Diagram 3: The gun tackle rove to advantage has
the rope attached to the moving pulley. The tension
in the rope is W/3 yielding an advantage of three.
Diagram 3a: The Lu tackle adds a xed pulley
rove to disadvantage. The tension in the rope remains W/3 yielding an advantage of three.

A double tackle has two pulleys in both the xed

and moving blocks with four rope parts supporting The mechanical advantage of the gun tackle can be inthe load W.
creased by interchanging the xed and moving blocks so
the rope is attached to the moving block and the rope is
Separation of the pulleys in the double tackle show pulled in the direction of the lifted load. In this case the
the force balance that results in a rope tension of block and tackle is said to be rove to advantage.[10] Diagram 3 shows that now three rope parts support the load
W/4.

3
W which means the tension in the rope is W/3. Thus, the
mechanical advantage is three.
By adding a pulley to the xed block of a gun tackle the
direction of the pulling force is reversed though the mechanical advantage remains the same, Diagram 3a. This
is an example of the Lu tackle.

2.2

Free body diagrams

The mechanical advantage of a pulley system can be analyzed using free body diagrams which balance the tension
force in the rope with the force of gravity on the load. In
an ideal system, the massless and frictionless pulleys do
not dissipate energy and allow for a change of direction of
a rope that does not stretch or wear. In this case, a force
balance on a free body that includes the load, W, and n
supporting sections of a rope with tension T, yields:
Belt and pulley system
nT W = 0.
The ratio of the load to the input tension force is the mechanical advantage MA of the pulley system,[11]

MA =

W
= n.
T

Thus, the mechanical advantage of the system is equal to

the number of sections of rope supporting the load.

Belt and pulley systems

Cone pulley driven from above by a line shaft

A belt drive is analogous to that of a chain drive, however

a belt sheave may be smooth (devoid of discrete interlocking members as would be found on a chain sprocket, spur
gear, or timing belt) so that the mechanical advantage is
approximately given by the ratio of the pitch diameter of
the sheaves only, not xed exactly by the ratio of teeth as
with gears and sprockets.

Flat belt on a belt pulley

A belt and pulley system is characterised by two or more

pulleys in common to a belt. This allows for mechanical
power, torque, and speed to be transmitted across axles.
If the pulleys are of diering diameters, a mechanical
advantage is realised.

In the case of a drum-style pulley, without a groove or

anges, the pulley often is slightly convex to keep the at
belt centred. It is sometimes referred to as a crowned pulley. Though once widely used on factory line shafts, this
type of pulley is still found driving the rotating brush in
upright vacuum cleaners, in belt sanders and bandsaws.
[12]
Agricultural tractors built up to the early 1950s generally had a belt pulley for a at belt (which is what Belt
Pulley magazine was named after). It has been replaced
by other mechanisms with more exibility in methods of
use, such as power take-o and hydraulics.
Just as the diameters of gears (and, correspondingly, their
number of teeth) determine a gear ratio and thus the
speed increases or reductions and the mechanical advantage that they can deliver, the diameters of pulleys determine those same factors. Cone pulleys and step pulleys

EXTERNAL LINKS

(which operate on the same principle, although the names [10] Seamanship Reference, Chapter 5, General Rigging.
sccheadquarters.com.
tend to be applied to at belt versions and V belt versions,
respectively) are a way to provide multiple drive ratios in
[11] Tiner, J. H. Exploring the World of Physics: From Simple
a belt-and-pulley system that can be shifted as needed,
Machines to Nuclear Energy. Master Books (May 1, 2006)
just as a transmission provides this function with a gear
p. 68.
train that can be shifted. V belt step pulleys are the most
common way that drill presses deliver a range of spindle [12] http://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/crowned_pulleys.html
speeds.

See also
Deadeye
Tongue and groove
Dierential pulley
Hoist
Portsmouth Block Mills
Reel
V-belt

References

[1] Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press.

1989. A wheel with a groove round its rim, a sheave.
A wheel or drum xed on a shaft and turned by a belt,
cable, etc.,
[2] Usher, Abbott Payson (1988). A History of Mechanical
Inventions. USA: Courier Dover Publications. p. 98.
ISBN 0-486-25593-X.
[3] Uicker, John; Pennock, Gordon; Shigley, Joseph (2010).
Theory of Machines and Mechanisms (4th ed.). Oxford
University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-537123-9.
[4] Paul, Burton (1979). Kinematics and dynamics of planar
machinery (illustrated ed.). Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-013-516062-6.
[5] MacDonald, Joseph A. Handbook of Rigging: For Construction and Industrial Operations. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-07-149301-7.
[6] Prater, Edward L. (1994). Basic Machines. Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology Center, NAVEDTRA 14037.
[7] Bureau of Naval Personnel (1971). Basic Machines They
Work. Dover Publications.
[8] Avery, Elroy (2003). Elementary physics. Sheldon and
company.
[9] Bowser, Edward (1890). An elementary treatise on analytic mechanics: With numerous examples (5 ed.). D. Van
Nostrand company. p. 180.

6 External links
http://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/
mechanics/v/mechanical-advantage--part-3

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