Let’s see how you did! If you didn’t get a few of these, don’t let it stress you out – it just means you need to play with more experiments in this area. We’re all works in progress, and we have our entire lifetime to puzzle together the mysteries of the universe!
Here’s printer-friendly versions of the exercises and answers for you to print out: Simply click here for K-8 and here for K-12.
Answers:
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1. The load is what you are lifting or moving.
2. Effort is the force needed to lift the load.
3. As the effort got less, the amount of string (distance) got greater and greater.
4. Mechanical advantage is the factor by which a mechanism multiplies the force put into it.
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For Advanced Students:
5. 5 pounds. The lever has a mechanical advantage of 10 so it multiplies the force by 10. So 5 x 10 = 50. (By the way, when you cut up that watermelon invite me over!)
6. 4 pounds. 4 x 500 = 2000
7. 18,000 Joules of work. 9000 Newtons x 2 meters = 18,000 Joules.
8. 1000 meters (3280 ft) of chain!!!
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