Final answer:
The mechanical advantage of a first-class lever with an 8 feet effort arm and a 2 feet resistance arm is 4. This means the lever multiplies the effort force by 4.
Step-by-step explanation:
The mechanical advantage of a lever is calculated by dividing the length of the effort arm by the length of the resistance arm. In this case, we have an effort arm measuring 8 feet and a resistance arm measuring 2 feet.
Therefore, the mechanical advantage (MA) is:
MA = Length of Effort Arm / Length of Resistance Arm
MA = 8 feet / 2 feet = 4
Hence, the mechanical advantage of the lever is 4, which signifies that the effort force is multiplied by a factor of 4.