Question

Jill and Maggi are playing on a seesaw. Jill weighs $450N$ and Maggi weighs $300N$. Jill is on one side sitting $3m$ away from the pivot. How far away must Maggi sit (w.r.t pivot) to balance seesaw?

• A. 4.5

Answer 1

The correct option is A 4.5
We know, moment of force is given by the product of the force and its distance from pivot.
Moment of force produced by Jill:
$M_1=450N\times 3m=1350Nm$

Let the distance between pivot and Maggi be $r$.
Moment of force produced by Maggi:
$M_2=300r$

For seesaw to be in equilibrium, both the moments of force should be equal.
$300r=1350$
$r=4.5m$