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Question

Pulleys and Inclined Planes Quick Check
3 of 43 of 4 Items

Question
Use the image of the pulley to answer the question.

An illustration shows a system of two pulleys lifting a block.

Lifting the weight without a pulley requires a force of 400 newtons over a distance of 4 meters. How do these values change when the pulley is applied?

(1 point)
Responses

The force decreases, while the distance increases.
The force decreases, while the distance increases.

Both the force and the distance increase.
Both the force and the distance increase.

Both the force and the distance decrease.
Both the force and the distance decrease.

The force increases, while the distance decreases.

Answer 1

When using a pulley system, the force required to lift an object generally decreases due to the advantage provided by the pulley, but the distance over which the force must be applied increases. This is because the work done (force times distance) remains constant in an ideal system (ignoring friction and other losses).

In this case, since it originally requires a force of 400 newtons over a distance of 4 meters without a pulley, using a pulley will result in:

• The force required to lift the weight decreases (the ease of lifting is increased).
• The distance over which you have to pull the rope increases.

Therefore, the correct response is: The force decreases, while the distance increases.