Physics question

[imamartian]

ok, so most people understand the principle of levers....


you want to lift a piano... you can't with your little finger.... but if you use a lever long enough... your little finger could lift it.
Im happy with that.

Now if your lever was quite heavy and very long... in theory, it could lift the piano by itself?!!!

What about if the lever was quite short, like a centimetre, yet weighed a trillion tons.... wouldn't it still lift the piano?

Isn't this just a balance scale comparison of masses?

for example, could a really long lever of virtually no mass lift a car?

 

[libby lou lou]

I go off the fulcrum, after that ??????????

 

[joinerjohn]

To lift a car with a lever, the force, downward on the lever past the fulcrum point opposite the car, would have to be more than the force keeping the car on the ground, and would depend upon where the force was applied on the lever. It all depends on the distance from the fulcrum to the object you want to raise, against the distance from that fulcrum, you apply the force. I suppose it's quite possible a 10ft length of 1" dia steel could lift a car, if the fulcrum was about half an inch(or even less) from the car.
About the mass of things, I just can't say. I think your confusing mass with weight. on this one

 

[imamartian]

ok so bear with me on this one.... we have a theoretically weightless material for a lever..(e.g. posh spice) then how long would a weightless (i.e.massless lever) need to be to raise one pound?

 

[joinerjohn]

If it was a theoretically weightless material (like posh tw@t) , It wouldn't matter how long she was as she'd lift nothing. She'd get some house help to do it for her. (or David, if he were in).

 

[imamartian]

so Archimedes said "give me a lever long enough and i'll move the Earth"... well what he actually meant was "give me lever massive enough and i'll move the Earth!!"???

 

[joinerjohn]

Ahh, but,,, Archimedes knew nothing of mass or the nature of things weighing different amounts. Well, until he sat in a bath that is. He would know nothing of almost weightless posh spice, or her husband David Beckham. I think he meant if he had a lever long enough he could move the Earth, but he'd be thinking of a lever made out of olive wood or pine, or perhaps even oak.

 

[securespark]

What if you put the piano on a conveyor belt?

 

[wotan]

What if you put the piano on a conveyor belt?

If the conveyor belt started...then you would have the first movement.

Wotan

 

[DeadJoe]

What if you put the piano on a conveyor belt?

If the conveyor belt started...then you would have the first movement.

Wotan

If it moved extremely quickly towards you, you would most likely then get the second movement...

 

[DeadJoe]

I'll get my coat...

 

[Igorian]

I find the concept of levering the posh t**t on a conveyor belt strangely erotic.

 

[RedHerring2]

I find the concept of levering the posh t**t on a conveyor belt strangely erotic.

I agree, that is strange.

 

[joinerjohn]

What if you put the piano on a conveyor belt?

If the conveyor belt started...then you would have the first movement.

Wotan

If it moved extremely quickly towards you, you would most likely then get the second movement...

If you worked for the NCB would you get A flat Miner ??

 

[geraint]

so Archimedes said "give me a lever long enough and i'll move the Earth"... well what he actually meant was "give me lever massive enough and i'll move the Earth!!"???

well... after that dumb statement... all i have to say is....



why are you still here................. thicko...