Chapter 12 – Simple Machines

A PowerPoint Presentation by
Paul E. Tippens, Professor of Physics
Southern Polytechnic State University

© 2007
SIMPLE MACHINES are used to perform a variety
of tasks with considerable efficiency. In this
example, a system of gears, pulleys, and levers
function to produce accurate time measurements.
Photo Vol. 1 PhotoDisk/Getty
PhotoDisk/Getty
Objectives: After completing this
module, you should be able to:
• Describe a simple machine in general terms and
apply the concepts of efficiency, energy
conservation, work, and power.
• Distinguish by definition and example between the
concepts of the ideal and actual mechanical
advantages.
• Describe and apply formulas for the mechanical
advantage and efficiency of the following devices:
(a) levers, (b) inclined planes, (c) wedges, (d)
gears, (e) pulley systems, (f) wheel and axel, (g)
screw jacks, and (h) the belt drive.
 A Simple Machine
In a simple machine, A simple Fin
input work is done by machine
the application of a sin

single force, and the Win= Finsin

machine does output sout
Fout
work by means of a
W
single force. Wout= Foutsout

Conservation of energy demands that the work

input be equal to the sum of the work output
and the heat lost to friction.
 A Simple Machine (Cont.)
Input
Input work
work == output
output work
work ++ work
work against
against friction
friction
Efficiency e is defined
as the ratio of work A simple Fininin
output to work input. machine
sin
Work output
e Win= Finsin
Work input
Fout sout sout
e FFout
out
Fin sin
W
W Wout= Foutsout
Example 1. The efficiency Fin = ?
of a simple machine is A simple
80% and a 400-N weight machine
sin
is lifted a vertical height of
2 m. If an input force of
Efficiency
20 N is required, what sout
Fout sout
distance must be covered W
W e
by the input force? Fin sin

TheThe
efficiency
advantage is 80%
is a or e = 0.80,
reduced inputtherefore
force,
but it is Fat the
s expense ofFdistance.
s The
 outmust
input eforce out
or sinagreater
move out out
distance.
Fin sin eFin
(400 N)(2 m)
sin  sin = 5.0 m
(0.80)(20 N)
 Power and Efficiency
Since power is work per Fin = ?
unit time, we may write A simple
machine
sin
Work
P or Work  Pt
t
sout
Efficiency
Wout P0t P0 Pout
e  e W
W e
Win Pti Pi Pin

Efficiency is the ratio

Power out P0
of the power output e 
to the power input. Power in Pi
 Example 2. A12-hp winch motor lifts a 900-lb load
to a height of 8 ft. What is
the output power in ftlb/s if A simple Fin = ?
the winch is 95% efficient? machine s in

P0
First we must e Efficiency
find the power Pi sout
Pout
output, Po: P0  ePi W
W e
Pin
Po = (0.95)(12 hp) = 11.4 hp
 550 ft  lb/s 
(1 hp = 550 ft/s): Po  (11.4 hp)    6600 ft  lb/s
 1 hp 

Po = 6270 ftlb/s
Ex. 2 (cont.) A12-hp winch motor lifts a 900 lb load
to a height of 8 ft. How
Fin = ?
much time is required if A simple
the winch is 95% efficient? machine
sin

We just found that Efficiency

Po = 6270 W sout
Pout
W
W e
Work out Fo so Pin
Po  
t t
Fo so (900 lb)(8 ft)
Now we solve for t : t 
Po 6270

Time required: tt =
Time required: = 1.15
1.15 ss
Actual Mechanical Fin = ?
Advantage A simple
machine
sin
The actual mechanical
Actual
advantage, MA, is the Mechanical
ratio of Fo to Fi. Fout sout
Advantage
W
W
MA 
output force Fo
 MA
input force Fi

For example, if an 80 N
40 N input force of 40 N MA 
lifts an 80 N weight, 40 N
the actual mechanical M A  2.0
80 N advantage is:
 An Ideal Machine
Conservation of energy demands that:

Input
Input work
work == output
output work
work ++ work
work against
against friction
friction
Fi si  Fo so  (Work ) f
An ideal or perfect machine is 100%
efficient and (Work)f = 0, so that
Fo si
Fi si  Fo so or 
si so

The ratio si/so is the ideal mechanical advantage.

 Ideal Mechanical Fin = ? 6m
Advantage A simple
machine
sin
The ideal mechanical
2m Ideal
advantage, MI, is the Mechanical
ratio of sin to sout. Fout sout
Advantage
W
W
MA 
in distance s
 i MI
out distance so

For example, if an input force 6m

moves a distance of 6 m while MI 
the output force moves 2 m, the 2m
ideal mechanical advantage is: M I  3.0
 Efficiency for an Ideal Engine
For 100% efficiency MA = MI. In other words,
in the absence of friction, the machine IS an
ideal machine and e = 1.
Fo 80 N
MA   4
IDEAL EXAMPLE: Fi 20 N
Fin = 80 N
A si 8 m
simple MI   4
machin Sin = 8 m so 2 m
e
Fout= Sout= 2 m MA
400 N e  1.0
W
W Mi
e = 100%
 Efficiency for an Actual Engine
The actual efficiency is always less than the
ideal efficiency because friction always exits.
The efficiency is still equal to the ratio MA/MI.

The efficiency of any e

MA
engine is given by: Mi

In
In our
our previous
previous example,
example, the the ideal
ideal mechanical
mechanical
advantage
advantage waswas equal
equal toto 44.. IfIf the
the engine
engine was
was only
only
50%
50% efficient , the
efficient, the actual
actual mechanical
mechanical advantage
advantage
would
would be
be 0.5(4)
0.5(4) or
or 22.
. Then
Then 160 160 NN (instead
(instead of
of 80
80
N)
N) would
would be
be needed
needed to to lift
lift the
the 400 -N weight.
400-N weight.
 The Lever
Fout
A lever shown here
consists of input and rout rin
output forces at different
Fin
distances from a fulcrum. Fulcrum

The input torque Firi is equal

Fi ri  Fo ro
to the output torque Foro.

The actual mechanical MA 

Fo ri

advantage is, therefore: Fi ro
 The Lever
Friction is negligible Fout rout  sin
so that Wout = Win:
 rin
Fo si sout Fin
Fi si  Fso or 
Fi so
Note from figure that angles are the same and
arc length s is proportional to r. Thus, the ideal
mechanical advantage is the same as actual.

Fo ri
The ideal MI is: M I   and M I  M A
Fi ro
 Example 3. A 1-m metal lever is used to lift a
800-N rock. What force is required at the left end
if the fulcrum is placed 20 cm from the rock?
1. Draw and label sketch: 800 N
2. List given info: ri
r2
Fo = 700 N; r2 = 20 cm F=?

r1 = 100 cm - 20 cm = 80 cm

3. To find Fi we recall the definition of MI :

ri 80 cm
MI  and MI  4; For lever: MA = MI
ro 20 cm
Fo 800 N
Thus, MA  4 and Fi   200 N
Fi 4
Other Examples of Levers
 Wheel and Axel:
Fi R
Application of Lever Principle: r
With no friction MI = MA and
Fo
For Wheel Fo ri
MA  
and Axel: Fi ro Wheel and Axel

For example, if R = 30 cm and r = 10 cm, an

input force of only 100 N will lift a 300-N weight!

IfIf the
the smaller
smaller radius
radius isis 1/3
1/3 of
of the
the larger
larger radius,
radius,
your
your output
output force
force isis 33 times
times the
the input
input force.
force.
 Single Fixed Pulleys
Single fixed pulleys serve only to change the
direction of the input force. See examples:

Fin = Fout
Fout Fin
Fout

Fin
W
 Single Moveable Pulley

Fin Fin Fin + Fin = Fout

Fin
2m 40 N + 40 N = 80 N
1m 80 N
Fout 80 N

A free-body diagram shows an actual mechanical

advantage of MA = 2 for a single moveable pulley.

Note that the rope moves a distance Fof sin

2 Fin  Fout or M A  o
2 I 
M 2
2 m while the weight is lifted only 1 m.
Fi sout
 Block and Tackle
Fi Arrangement
We draw a free-body diagram:
Fi Fi F
Fi i
4 Fin  Fout
Fo
MA  4
Fo
Fi

Fo The lifter must pull 4 m of rope

W
in order to lift the weight 1 m
 The Belt Drive
A belt drive is a device used to transmit torque
from one place to another. The actual mechanical
advantage is the ratio of the torques.
output torque  o
Fo MA  
input torque  i
ro
Since torque is defined as Fr,
the ideal advantage is:
Fo ro
MI  MA 
Fi ri
Belt ri
ro Do
Drive Fi Belt Drive: M I  
ri Di
 Angular Speed Ratio
The mechanical advantage
Do
of a belt drive can also be
expressed in terms of the
diameters D or in terms of 
the angular speeds .

Do i
Belt Drive: MI   Belt
Di o
Drive Di
Note that the smaller pulley
diameter always has the i
Speed ratio:
greater rotational speed. o
Example 4. A 200 Nm torque
is applied to an input pulley Fo
12 cm in diameter. (a) What ro MI = 4
should be the diameter of the
output pulley to give an ideal
mechanical advantage of 4?
(b) What is the belt tension?
To find Do we use the fact that Do ri
MI 
Do Di F
MI   4; Do  4 Di
Di
Do = 4(12 cm) = 48 cm
 i  Fi ri  200 N  m
Now, i = Firi and ri = Di/2.
Belt tension is Fi and ri is 200 N  m
equal to ½Di = 0.06 m. Fi   3330 N
0.06 m
 Gears
Mechanical advantage
of gears is similar to
that for belt drive:
Do N o
Gears: MI  
No
Di N i Ni

In this case, Do is the If 200 teeth are in the

diameter of the driving input (driving) gear, and
gear and Di is diameter 100 teeth in the output
of the driven gear. N is (driven) gear, the mech-
the number of teeth. anical advantage is ½.
Example 5. The driving gear on a bicycle has 40
teeth and the wheel gear has only 20 teeth. What
is the mechanical advantage? If the driving gear
makes 60 rev/min, what is the rotational speed of
the rear wheel?
N o 22
MI   ; M I  0.5
N i 44
Remember that the
angular speed ratio is No = 20 Ni = 40
opposite to the gear ratio.
N o i i 1
MI   ;  Output
N i o  o 2 Output angular
angular speed:
speed:
o = 22(60 rpm)  =
= 120
120 rpm
rpm
 The Inclined Plane
The Inclined Plane Ideal Mechanical
Advantage
si Fi slope si
MI  
so height so

W
Actual Advantage: M A 
Fo = W Fi

Because
Because ofof friction,
friction, the
the actual
actual mechanical
mechanical
advantage M
advantage MAA of
of an
an inclined
inclined plane
plane isis usually
usually much
much
less
less than
than the
the ideal
ideal mechanical
mechanical advantage
advantage M MII..
Example 6. An inclined plane has a slope of 8 m
and a height of 2 m. What is the ideal mechan-
ical advantage and what is the necessary input
force needed to push a 400-N weight up the
incline? The efficiency is 60 percent.
Si = 8 m si 8 m
Fi MI   ; MI  4
2m
so 2 m

MA
Fo = 400 N e ; M A  eMI  (0.60)(4)
MI
Fo Fo 400 N
M A  2.4  Fi   FFi i == 167
167 NN
Fi 2.4 2.4
 The Screw Jack
Fo An application of the
Fi inclined plane:
R
Input distance: si = 2R
p
Output distance: so = p
2 R Screw Screw Jack
MI 
p Jack si 2 R
MI  
so p

Due to friction, the screw jack is an inefficient

machine with an actual mechanical advantage
significantly less than the ideal advantage.
Summary for Simple Machines
Work output
Efficiency e is defined e
Work input
as the ratio of work Fout sout
output to work input. e
Fin sin

Efficiency is the ratio

Power out P0
of the power output e 
to the power input. Power in Pi
 Summary
The actual mechanical
Fin = ?
advantage, MA, is the A simple
ratio of Fo to Fi. machine
sin

output force Fo
MA  
sout
Efficiency
input force Fi Pout
W
W e
Pin

The ideal mechanical in distance s

advantage, MI, is the MA   i
out distance so
ratio of sin to sout.
 Summary (Cont.)
The actual mechanical MA 
Fo ri

advantage for a lever: Fi ro

Application of lever principle:

With no friction MI = MA

For Wheel Fo ri
MA  
and axel: Fi ro
 Summary (Cont.)
Do i Fo
Belt Drive: MI  
Di o
ro MI = 4
output torque  o
MA  
input torque  i

Belt ri
ro Do F
Belt Drive: M I   Drive
ri Di
 Summary
Do No
Gears: M I  
Di Ni
Ni No

The Inclined Ideal Mechanical

Plane Advantage
si Fi slope si
MI  
so height so

W
Actual Advantage: M A 
Fo = W Fi
 Summary (Cont.)

Fo An application of the
Fi inclined plane:
R
Input distance: si = 2R
p
Output distance: so = p
2 R Screw Screw Jack
MI 
p Jack si 2 R
MI  
so p
CONCLUSION: Chapter 12
Simple Machines