Name: _______________________________

Lever Lab
Materials:
 Lever apparatus  Small weight
 Dynamometer  Large weight

Purpose:
In this lab, you will use a lever apparatus to investigate how increasing the length
of the lever arm affects the effort required to lift a load.

Hypothesis:
For example: The longer the lever arm, the less force is required to
lift a load.

Procedure:

1. Using a dynamometer, weigh the large weight (load) and record its weight (in
Newtons) in Tables 1 & 2.
2. Weigh the small weight (load) and record its weight (in Newtons) in Table 3.

First Class Lever:

3. Place the fulcrum at the 50 cm mark.
4. Hook the large weight 10 cm from the fulcrum. It will remain in this position
for all the measurements using this class of lever.
5. Hook the dynamometer 10 cm from the fulcrum on the side opposite the load.
6. Record the lengths of the lever and load arms in Table 1.
7. Pull down on the dynamometer to raise the weight. Record the effort force
required in Table 1.
8. Move the dynamometer 10 cm further away from the fulcrum and repeat
steps 6 and 7.
9. Move the dynamometer another 10 cm further away from the fulcrum and
repeat steps 6 and 7.
10. Calculate the mechanical advantage for each lever arm length.

Second Class Lever:

11. Place the fulcrum at the 10 cm mark.
12. Hook the large weight 10 cm from the fulcrum. It will remain in this position
for all the measurements using this class of lever.
13. Hook the dynamometer 20 cm from the fulcrum on the same side as the load.
14. Record the lengths of the lever and load arms in Table 2.
15. Pull up on the dynamometer to raise the weight. Record the effort force
required in Table 2.
16. Move the dynamometer 10 cm further away from the fulcrum and repeat
steps 14 and 15.
17. Move the dynamometer another 10 cm further away from the fulcrum and
repeat steps 14 and 15.
18. Calculate the mechanical advantage for each lever arm length.

Third Class Lever:

19. Leave the fulcrum at the 10 cm mark.
20. Hook the small weight 50 cm from the fulcrum. It will remain in this position
for all the measurements using this class of lever.
21. Hook the dynamometer 20 cm from the fulcrum on the same side as the load.
22. Record the lengths of the lever and load arms in Table 3.
23. Pull up on the dynamometer to raise the weight. Record the effort force
required in Table 3.
24. Move the dynamometer 10 cm further away from the fulcrum and repeat
steps 21 and 22.
25. Move the dynamometer another 10 cm further away from the fulcrum and
repeat steps 21 and 22.
26. Calculate the mechanical advantage for each lever arm length.

Results:
Load
Mechanical Advantage 
Effort

Table 1: Mechanical Advantage for First Class Levers

Load arm Lever arm Mechanical
Load (N) Effort (N)
length (cm) length (cm) Advantage
10 20 5 2.5 2
10 30 5 1.6 3
10 40 5 1.25 4

Table 2: Mechanical Advantage for Second Class Levers

Load arm Lever arm Mechanical
Load (N) Effort (N)
length (cm) length (cm) Advantage
10 20 5 4.5 1.1
10 30 5 4 1.25
10 40 5 3 1.67
Table 3: Mechanical Advantage for Third Class Levers
Load arm Lever arm Mechanical
Load (N) Effort (N)
length (cm) length (cm) Advantage
40 20 1 2 0.5
40 30 1 1.25 0.8
40 40 1 1 1

Analysis:

1. Using the results you obtained, what do first and second class levers have in
common when comparing their performance?
With both first and second class levers the mechanical advantage is equal
to or greater than 1 (easier to lift the load).

2. How is a third class lever different from the first two classes of lever when
comparing the results you obtained for its performance?
With the third class lever the mechanical advantage is always less than
or equal to 1 (more difficult to lift the load).

3. Why was a smaller weight used for the third class lever in this lab?
Because the mechanical advantage is less than 1 for the third class lever,
it would require more than 5N (or 10N) of force to lift the larger weight
and we would therefore not have been able to measure the force with the
dynamometer given which only measured up to 5N (or 10N).

Conclusion: (refer to the purpose and your hypothesis):

For all classes of levers, the longer the lever arm was, the less force was
required to lift the load. The hypothesis was accepted.