A balanced lever has two weights on it, the first with mass 72 kg 72kg and the second with mass 18 kg18kg. If the first weight is 6 m6m from the fulcrum, how far is the second weight from the fulcrum?

1 Answer
Apr 27, 2018

The distance is =24m=24m

Explanation:

![www.thoughtco.com](useruploads.socratic.org)

The mass M_1=72kgM1=72kg

The mass M_2=18kgM2=18kg

The distance a=6ma=6m

Taking moments about the fulcrum

M_1xxa=M_2xxbM1×a=M2×b

b=(M_1xxa)/(M_2)=(72xx6)/(18)=24mb=M1×aM2=72×618=24m