Question

Force and Work Unit Test
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Question
Samantha builds a lever to lift objects in a science experiment. The load arm is 0.4 meters. If she wants the lever to have a mechanical advantage of 8, how long should the effort arm be?(1 point)
Responses

3.2 m
3.2 m

7.6 m
7.6 m

8.4 m
8.4 m

0.05 m

Answer 1

To find the length of the effort arm needed to achieve a mechanical advantage of 8 with a load arm of 0.4 meters, you can use the formula for mechanical advantage (MA) in a lever:

\[
MA = \frac{\text{Effort Arm}}{\text{Load Arm}}
\]

Given that the mechanical advantage (MA) is 8 and the load arm is 0.4 meters, you can rearrange the equation to solve for the effort arm:

\[
\text{Effort Arm} = MA \times \text{Load Arm}
\]

Substituting the known values:

\[
\text{Effort Arm} = 8 \times 0.4 \text{ m} = 3.2 \text{ m}
\]

So, Samantha should make the effort arm 3.2 meters long to achieve a mechanical advantage of 8.

The correct answer is **3.2 m**.