Trading distance for force
How Do Levers Work?
Push a long way with a small force, and something moves a short way with a big one.
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Step 1 of 5
A lever is a bar on a pivot.
The pivot is called the fulcrum. Push down on one side and the other side goes up. That is the entire machine.
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Step 2 of 5
Where the pivot sits changes everything.
Put the fulcrum close to the load and far from your hands, and your modest push turns into a huge force at the other end.
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Step 3 of 5
Turning force is force times distance.
What matters is not just how hard you push but how far from the pivot you push. Ten times the distance means ten times the turning effect.
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Step 4 of 5
The trade is always distance for force.
Lift ten times the weight and your end must travel ten times further. Levers multiply force, never energy.
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Step 5 of 5
You use them constantly.
Scissors, wheelbarrows, bottle openers, nutcrackers, a spoon prising a lid, your own forearm lifting a mug — all levers with different pivot positions.
Archimedes said: give me a place to stand and a long enough lever, and I will move the Earth. The maths actually agrees.
The short version
A lever multiplies your force by making you push further — force and distance always trade off.
Try it yourself
Open a tin of paint with a teaspoon, then with a long screwdriver. The longer handle does the work for you.
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