Question

In a hydraulic lift whose ideal mechanical advantage is 5, how far can the output platform be lifted when the input platform is depressed 43.0 cm?

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To determine how far the output platform can be lifted in a hydraulic lift with an ideal mechanical advantage (IMA) of 5, we can use the relationship between the input distance and the output distance in a hydraulic system.

The ideal mechanical advantage is defined as:

\[
\text{IMA} = \frac{d_{\text{input}}}{d_{\text{output}}}
\]

Where:
- \( d_{\text{input}} \) is the distance the input platform is moved (43.0 cm).
- \( d_{\text{output}} \) is the distance the output platform is lifted.

From the formula, we can express the output distance as:

\[
d_{\text{output}} = \frac{d_{\text{input}}}{\text{IMA}}
\]

Substituting the given values:

\[
d_{\text{output}} = \frac{43.0 \, \text{cm}}{5}
\]

Calculating this gives:

\[
d_{\text{output}} = 8.6 \, \text{cm}
\]

Therefore, the output platform can be lifted **8.6 cm** when the input platform is depressed by 43.0 cm.