An object with a mass of 24kg is hanging from an axle with a radius of 14m. If the wheel attached to the axle has a radius of 42m, how much force must be applied to the wheel to keep the object from falling?

1 Answer
Jan 14, 2017

8gN

Explanation:

The moments must balance, so 24×14=F×42, where F is the force that must be applied. Hence F=24×1442=8. Hence 8g, that is, the local weight of a mass of 8kg, since one kilogram has a weight of g Newtons. (Informally, it would require a "weight' of 8kg on the wheel to balance the 'weight' of 24 kg on the axle.)