Can you easily lift more than your own weight? With a pulley system, almost anyone can manage this challenge. Scholars adjust the mechanical advantage (number of pulleys), weight of object being lifted, and the length of rope pulled. The simulation displays graphs of the force used for each trial.

Concepts

force, work, energy, mechanical advantage, pulleys, simple machines

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Set up a pulley system in the classroom

Classroom Considerations

• Requires a free CK-12 account to access the interactive
• Assumes prior knowledge of force, mechanical advantage, and how to interpret graphs

Pros

• Provides answers for some of the worksheet questions
• Includes challenge questions that require higher-level thinking

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.6-8.4 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4