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142 SCIPAD - BIG IDEAS - BOOK 2
FORCES AND MOTION
1. A door can be used to show how effort changes as you move away from the pivot point.
Try closing a door with your finger a few centimetres from the hinges, then in the middle of
the door, and finally the furthest you can from the hinges. Write a statement based on the
amount of effort required and the distance between your finger and the pivot (hinges).
2. Describe a ‘lever’.
3. Jenny says that scissors are a simple machine that use levers. Use the terms effort, load and
fulcrum to label the diagram below to support Jenny’s claim.
4. Describe a situation in which a lever can be used. Draw a diagram of the lever you describe
and label the effort, load, and fulcrum.
Simple Machines - The Lever
A ‘simple machine’ decreases the amount of force needed to do work. Scientists call the force
needed to do work (i.e. move an object) the ‘effort’. The mass or resistance to movement is
called the ‘load’. Levers, inclined planes and wedges are examples of simple machines.
Levers are solid bars that use a fulcrum (or pivot) to amplify efforts. In the
diagram below, the lever to the left of the fulcrum is three times longer than
the lever to the right of the fulcrum. The force on the boulder will be three
times greater than the effort applied by the man.
Fulcrum
Lever
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