A balanced lever has two weights on it, the first with mass $5 k g$ $5 kg$ and the second with mass $80 k g$ $80 kg$ . If the first weight is $16 m$ $16 m$ from the fulcrum, how far is the second weight from the fulcrum?

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A balanced lever has two weights on it, the first with mass $5 k g$ $5 kg$ and the second with mass $80 k g$ $80 kg$ . If the first weight is $16 m$ $16 m$ from the fulcrum, how far is the second weight from the fulcrum?

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Answer 1 · 2018-05-08T00:05:19

The second mass is $1 m$ $1m$ from the fulcrum

Explanation:

Balancing a lever means balancing the moment or torque in the system.

Knowing that moment is equal to the force applied multiplied by the length of the lever arm ( $M = F \times r$ $M=Fxxr$ ), we can write an equation for the balance:

$F_{1} \times r_{1} = F_{2} \times r_{2}$ $F_1xxr_1=F_2xxr_2$

Now, lets plug in our numbers:

$F_{1} = 5 k g \times g$ $F_1=5kgxxg$
$F_{2} = 80 k g \times g$ $F_2=80kgxxg$
$r_{1} = 16 m$ $r_1=16m$
$r_{2} = X m$ $r_2=Xm$

I multiplied the masses by the gravitational constant $g$ $g$ to assure that it's a force. This is an extra step for this specific question, but important when dealing with units.

$cancel(g)xx5xx16=cancel(g)xx80xxX$

Notice that the gravitational constant cancels (why I said this was extra for this question)

$5xx16=80X$

$80=80X$

$color(green)(rArrX=1m)$

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A balanced lever has two weights on it, the first with mass $5 k g$ $5 kg$ and the second with mass $80 k g$ $80 kg$ . If the first weight is $16 m$ $16 m$ from the fulcrum, how far is the second weight from the fulcrum?

1 Answer

Explanation:

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A balanced lever has two weights on it, the first with mass 5 kg 5kg5 kg and the second with mass 80 kg80kg80 kg. If the first weight is 16 m16m 16 m from the fulcrum, how far is the second weight from the fulcrum?

1 Answer

Explanation:

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Impact of this question

A balanced lever has two weights on it, the first with mass $5 k g$ $5 kg$ and the second with mass $80 k g$ $80 kg$ . If the first weight is $16 m$ $16 m$ from the fulcrum, how far is the second weight from the fulcrum?