Mechanical Advantage and Efficiency

Practice

http://schulman.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/file/view/Mechanical+Advantage+and+Efficiency+Practi
ce.docx

Example- Mechanical Advantage : A 500-newton cart is lifted to a height of 1 meter using a 10-meter
long ramp. You can see that the worker only has to use 50 newtons of force to pull the cart. Find the
mechanical advantage:
MA= output force/input force. MA = 500 N/50 N.
out)

MA=10 (no units, newtons cancel

For a lever, if you know the lengths of each arm, you can calculate using this formula:
MA = (length of input arm)/(length of output arm)
Example of a lever with lengths: A construction worker uses a board and log as a lever to lift a
heavy rock. If the input arm is 3 meters long and the output arm is 0.75 meters
long, what is the mechanical advantage of the lever?
MA = (length of input arm)/(length of output arm).
meters cancel out)

MA=3m/0.75m

MA=4 (no unit,

Solve these, showing ALL WORK [formula, substitutions and answers] :

NOTE: BEFORE you start solving stuff, check to see which formula you need. The
formulas are in ultra bold. If I give you lengths (which I do a lot) use the second formula!
1. A lever used to lift a heavy box has an input arm of 4 meters and an output arm of 0.8 meters. What is the
mechanical advantage of the lever?
2. What is the mechanical advantage of a lever that has an input arm of 3 meters and an output arm of 2
meters?
3. A lever with an input arm of 2 meters has a mechanical advantage of 4. What is the output arms length?
4. A lever with an output arm of 0.8 meter has a mechanical advantage of 6. What is the length of the input
arm?
5. A rake is held so that its input arm is 0.4 meters and its output arm is 1.0 meters. What is the mechanical
advantage of the rake?
6. A broom with an input arm length of 0.4 meters has a mechanical advantage of 0.5. What is the length of the
output arm?
7. A childs toy rake is held so that its output arm is 0.75 meters. If the mechanical advantage is 0.33, what is
the input arm length?

And now, efficiency

Efficiency is a percent. You use this formula to find it: E= (Output work/input work) x 100

So you divide the output by input first, and then multiply by 100. Your answer should be expressed as a
percent. Percent is the unit.

Solve these problems:

1. A light bulb takes in 30J of energy per second. It transfers 3J as useful light energy and 27J as heat energy.
Calculate the efficiency (the light is the important energy here).
2. A kettle takes in 2000J of energy per second. It transfers 1500J as useful heat energy and 500J is wasted
as sound energy. Calculate the efficiency of the kettle.
3. Calculate the efficiency of a SchulMart gamma ray emitter which takes in 3000J of energy per second and
transfers 600J as useful heat energy.
4. Calculate the efficiency of a LD plasma television (available on Aisle 9 at SchulMart) which takes in 5000J of
energy per second and transfers 1000J as useful light energy and 1500J as useful sound energy. The
remaining 2500J is wasted as heat energy.
5. What is the efficiency of a machine when the input is 263 J and the output is 142 J ?
6. What is the output when the efficiency is 62 % and the input is 39 J ?
7. What is the input work when the output is 2841 J and the efficiency is 15 % ?

Write em out! Answer these questions which do

not involve calculations
A: How are mechanical advantage and efficiency different?
B: What reasons might there be for a machine not having 100% efficiency?
C: Cars are not very efficient. What evidence is there that the car is not 100% efficient? (HINT: the goal of the
car is to move)
D: What could you do to make cars more efficient? (Be specific)
E. Would you want a machine to do work? Give your answer and support that answer with three specific facts
about machines, mechanical advantage and/or efficiency.

If you didnt finish this in class, dont panic! Itll be on

the website for you to access.