Can't electricity be created with a lever?

When a heavy weight is lifted using a lever, it consumes little energy and when this heavy weight comes down, it can power a very heavy generator. Is it really impossible to make a profit? The system could be powered by muscle power and this in turn may yield economic benefits. Ps: had asked a few more questions about this theme but these were labeled as school questions and therefore not answered. However, they are not and I can not find anywhere an efficiency of electrical/magnetic generation of power. What’s more: this is not even discussed anywhere, while the return of all other options is mentioned. This even seems to be profitable to me, since electricity is consumed in a small circle and electricity is generated in a larger circle and there are no moving parts, so there is no loss either. In any case: thank you.

cristof

vandendries.kristof@skynet.be

Asker: cristof, 29 years old

Answer

Dear Christopher,

it is no problem to transfer energy via a lever system and this is done in many applications. However, the lever itself cannot yield any energy gain. You are assuming that lifting a heavy weight with a lever would require less energy than lifting a heavy weight with no lever. However, this is not correct. By using a lever you will indeed be able to reduce the necessary force, but the distance that the “operator” of the lever has to travel has increased. Mechanically we can calculate the amount of energy of this movement in a simplified way as a product of force (F) with the “travel (s)”. (W=Fs) When we use a short lever, the force will still be quite large, but the distance traveled (the path that the operator of the lever has to travel) is still small. If we use a long lever, the force will be smaller (depending on the position of the pivot point of the lever, of course), but the distance traveled will be greater. The lever therefore serves as a “power amplifier” but does not provide any extra energy.

I hope this is a satisfactory answer to your question, if not, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Dirk

Answered by

ing. Dirk Merckx

Automation Pneumatics Industrial Hydraulics PLC Programming Machine Safety

Can’t electricity be created with a lever?

Odisee
Brothers De Smetstraat 1 9000 Ghent
http://www.odisee.be

Can’t electricity be created with a lever?

Answer

Answered by

ing. Dirk Merckx

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