Question

Alan will use a two wheel compound pulley to lift a crate from the floor of his garage to a storage shelf. The shelf is 5 meters above the floor. Alan pulls 3 meters of the rope to lift the crate. Which statement is correct?

1) The mechanical advantage of the pulley system is 1.67
2) The mechanical advantage of the pulley system is 2
3) The mechanical advantage of the pulley system is 3
4) The mechanical advantage of the pulley system is 5

Answer 1

The mechanical advantage of the pulley system Alan uses is 1.67, as he pulls 3 meters of rope to lift the crate 5 meters.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct statement is that the mechanical advantage of the pulley system is 1.67. Mechanical advantage (MA) is calculated by dividing the distance over which effort force is applied by the distance the load is lifted. Therefore, if Alan pulls 3 meters of rope to lift the crate 5 meters, the mechanical advantage would be 5/3, which simplifies to 1.67 (Option 1).