Question

Calculate the mechanical advantage of a lever whose input arm is 80 cm long and the output arm is 5 cm long.

• A. 14
• B. 16
• C. 18
• D. 20

Answer 1

The correct option is B

16

It is given that, a lever has an input arm as 80 cm and the output arm as 5 cm.

Input arm is also called effort arm. So, effort arm = 80 cm
Output arm is also called load arm. So, load arm = 5 cm.

The mechanical advantage (MA) of the lever is given by:-

MA = $\frac{\text{Effort arm}}{\text{Load arm}}$ = $\frac{\text{Input arm}}{\text{Output arm}}$

$\therefore$ Mechanical advantage (MA) = $\frac{80}{5}$ = 16