Distance of a hydraulic lift is that a force applied to a small piston allows you to lift an object with a much greater than the applied force. However, the smaller piston must be pushed down a farther than the larger piston is raised. Why is this?
1 Answer
The small piston has to move a long distance because it is a small piston.
Explanation:
The hydraulic system is closed. It possesses a fixed volume of hydraulic fluid.
Compare depressing the small piston 0.1 m and depressing the large piston 0.1 m.
In the first case, the volume of fluid that must move deeper into the system is
In the second case, the volume of fluid that must move deeper into the system is
The volume in the second case is greater than in the first case because the cross section area of the volume is greater. Because this is a system where the 2 pistons are connected hydraulically, when one piston moves the other must also move.
Now let's apply that understanding to the case you asked about. You need to raise the large piston 0.1 m. It takes a large volume of fluid to fill the new area under the large piston. The small piston has to move a long distance to push out that much fluid because it is a small piston .
