Science for the School and Family, Part I. Natural PhilosophyHooker, Worthington
Science
Science for the School and Family, Part I. Natural Philosophy
Hooker, Worthington
Physics; Science
230. =An Analogy.=--You will remember that in the case of the
Hydrostatic Paradox, the Hydrostatic Bellows, and Bramah's Press
(§ 131, § 132, and § 133), great effects are produced by a small
power. But this small power has to execute an extensive motion in
order to produce these effects. Thus, as stated in § 132, if the
area of the top of the Hydrostatic Bellows be one thousand times
the area of the tube, though the water poured into the tube will
raise a very great weight on the bellows, the water in the tube
must fall ten inches in raising the weight the hundredth part of an
inch. So when the pressure of the hand on the long arm of a lever
moves a great weight, as a heavy stone, the weight is moved but a
little, while the extent of the hand's motion is comparatively very
great.
[Illustration: Fig. 161.]
[Illustration: Fig. 162.]
231. =Lever of the Second Kind.=--In the second kind of lever
the weight is between the fulcrum and the power, as you see in
Fig. 161. The same rule of equilibrium applies here as in the
case of the lever of the first kind. The 72 pounds of weight can
be sustained by 8 pounds of power, because the power acts on the
lever at 9 times the distance from the fulcrum that the weight
does, for 1×72 = 9×8. The common wheel-barrow, Fig. 162 (p. 180),
is an example of this kind of lever. The point at which the wheel
presses on the ground is the fulcrum, and the weight is the load,
its downward pressure from its centre of gravity being indicated at
M. Of course the nearer the load is to the fulcrum the easier it
is, on starting, to raise the handles. The crow-bar can be used as
a lever of this kind when its point is placed beyond the weight to
be raised. The chipping-knife, Fig. 163, is another example. The
end, F, attached to the board, is the fulcrum, the hand pressing
at P the power, and the resistance of the substance R, which is to
be cut, is the weight. Nut-crackers have a similar arrangement. In
shutting a door by pushing it near its edge we move a lever of this
kind. The hinge is the fulcrum, and the weight is between this and
the hand.
[Illustration: Fig. 163.]
We see, then, the reason that the slight push of a hand shutting
the door may even crush a finger when caught in it at the side
where the hinges are. The finger is a resistance so near the
fulcrum that the power moving through a great space acts upon it
with immense force. The same explanation applies to the severe bite
of the finger when it is caught in the hinge of a pair of tongs.
The oar of a boat is a lever of this kind, the weight to be moved
being the boat, which is between the power, the hand of the rower,
and the fulcrum, the resisting water.
[Illustration: Fig. 164.]
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