Question

State the class of levers and the relative positions of load, effort, and fulcrum in the following cases:

a)Bottle opener

b)Sugar tongs

Answer 1

Bottle opener:

1. It is a class II lever.
2. Load is between fulcrum and effort.
3. Thus, in the case of a bottle opener the load (L) acts in the middle of the metal crown, the fulcrum (F) at the edge of the metal crown, and effort (E) at the end of the handle.

Sugar tongs:

1. It is a class III lever.
2. Effort is between fulcrum and load.
3. Thus, the sugar cube at the ends of the tongs acts as load (L), the effort (E) acts in the middle, and the fulcrum (F) acts at its end.

Hence, the bottle opener is a class II lever, and sugar tongs are a class III lever.