Pulleys and Mechanical Advantage

Vocabulary flashcards on pulleys, fixed pulleys, movable pulleys, block and tackle systems, and mechanical advantage.

Pulley

A simple machine that uses a rope and a wheel to lift an object.

Fixed pulley

A pulley attached to something that will not move; pulling the rope $8\,m$ raises the load $8\,m$, offering no mechanical advantage but redirecting force in the opposite direction.

Movable pulley

A pulley that gives the system a mechanical advantage by trading distance for force, requiring the rope to be pulled twice as far using only half the effort force.

Block and tackle

A pulley system with multiple fixed and movable pulleys that increases mechanical advantage, where each additional pulley requires pulling twice the distance while effort force decreases by half.

Syracusia

The object that Archimedes showed King Hiero how to lift using a system of pulleys.

Fulcrum (in a pulley)

The wheel in a pulley system over which the rope moves, serving as the pivot point of a modified lever.

Arms of the lever (in a pulley)

The rope in a pulley system that forms the arms of a modified lever as it moves over the wheel.