A balanced lever has two weights on it, the first with mass #22 kg # and the second with mass #21 kg#. If the first weight is # 4 m# from the fulcrum, how far is the second weight from the fulcrum?

1 Answer
Apr 15, 2018

#4.2 \ "m"#

Explanation:

For a balanced lever, we have the following relationship:

#m_1d_1=m_2d_2#

  • #m_1,m_2# are the masses of the two objects

  • #d_1,d_2# are the distances of the two objects from the fulcrum

And so,

#22 \ "kg"*4 \ "m"=21 \ "kg"*d_2#

#d_2=(22color(red)cancelcolor(black)"kg"*4 \ "m")/(21color(red)cancelcolor(black)"kg")#

#~~4.2 \ "m"#