An inclined plane is a simple machine that reduces the force needed to raise an object to a certain height. Work equals force x distance and, by increasing the distance that the object travels, an inclined plane reduces the force necessary to raise it to a particular height. In this case, the mechanical advantage is to make the task easier. An example of an inclined plane is a ramp.

Power is the rate of doing work or \(\frac{W}{t}\). To increase power, increase the work being done in the same amount of time or do the same amount of work in less time.

To balance this lever the torques on each side of the fulcrum must be equal. Torque is weight x distance from the fulcrum so the equation for equilibrium is:

R_ad_a = R_bd_b

Solving for R_b, our missing value, and plugging in our variables yields:

R_b = \( \frac{R_ad_a}{d_b} \) = \( \frac{55 lbs. \times 7 ft.}{2 ft.} \) = \( \frac{385 ft⋅lb}{2 ft.} \) = 192.5 lbs.

Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of equal volumes of a substance and water and is measured by a hyrdometer.

Mechanical advantage (MA) is the ratio by which effort force relates to resistance force. If both forces are known, calculating MA is simply a matter of dividing resistance force by effort force:

MA = \( \frac{F_r}{F_e} \) = \( \frac{9 ft.}{18.0 ft.} \) = 0.5

In this case, the mechanical advantage is less than one meaning that each unit of effort force results in just 0.5 units of resistance force. However, a third class lever like this isn't designed to multiply force like a first class lever. A third class lever is designed to multiply distance and speed at the resistance by sacrificing force at the resistance. Different lever styles have different purposes and multiply forces in different ways.