lever+lab+report

=** Question: How is effort force affected when applied closer to the fulcrum? **=

Hypothesis: If the effort force is applied closer to the fulcrum, then the effort force will increase, because the mechanical advantage would be greater.

Variables: Position of effort force, amount of effort force, amount of load force position of fulcrum, position of load force. Independent Variable: Position of effort force Dependent Variable: Amount of effort force needed to be applied Control Variables: Amount of load force, position of fulcrum, position of load force.

Procedure: 1. The smaller end of the meter stick will be for the load force. (The 0cm end). This means that the load you are trying to lift should be at this end. 2. The larger end of the meter stick (the 100-cm end) will be for the effort force. 3. Set up your lever like a meter stick with no weights, and the fulcrum close to the middle so the lever acts like a see-saw, balanced in the middle. 4. Put a load of 50 g at the LOAD END of the lever. Put the load as close as possible to the end of the lever. Be careful that the fulcrum stays in place. 5. Apply a force by pushing the Force Sensor down on the FORCE END of the lever. Add **//just//** enough to lift the load. 6. Record the newtons you need to lift the load. (I've done this one as an example below). 7. Repeat steps 4- 6 changing the Effort Force Distance. 8. Record the data in the data table.


 * Fulcrum At (cm) || Load at End of Ruler (g) || Load distance (cm) (from fulcrum to load) || Effort Force needed (newtons) || Effort Force Distance (cm) ||
 * 50 || 200 || 49 || 2.0 || 49 ||
 * 50 || 200 || 49 || 2.2 || 40 ||
 * 50 || 200 || 49 || 3.2 || 30 ||
 * 50 || 200 || 49 || 5.1 || 20 ||

Try these other fulcrum placements and find several effort placements that will work.


 * Fulcrum At (cm) || Load at End of Ruler (g) || Load distance (cm) (from fulcrum to load) || Effort Force needed (newtons) || Effort Force Distance (cm) ||
 * 40 || 200 || 40 || 1.1 || 50 ||
 * 40 || 200 || 40 || 1.5 || 40 ||
 * 40 || 200 || 40 || 2.2 || 30 ||
 * 40 || 200 || 40 || 3 || 20 ||
 * 30 || 200 || 30 || 0.7 || 40 ||
 * 30 || 200 || 30 || 0.9 || 30 ||
 * 30 || 200 || 30 || 1.3 || 20 ||

Conclusion: My hypothesis was correct. When the load is further away from the fulcrum, a smaller effort force to lift the load, since the distance between the effort force and the fulcrum is greater than the distance between the load force and the fulcrum, we have a mechanical advantage that is more than one. Improvement: We could have used some device to push the sensor down steadily, so we could have the amount of the effort force at the exact same time. With the device, the speed the sensor was pushed down at would be the same, which might affect our results as well. Hence, with the device we could measure the amount of effort force at the exact moment when the load was lifted up. We would have more accurate and reliable results.