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 = \( \frac{F_r}{F_e} \) = \( \frac{5 ft.}{6.25 ft.} \) = 0.8

In this case, the mechanical advantage is less than one meaning that each unit of effort force results in just 0.8 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.

If you apply the resistance to the axle and the effort to the wheel, the wheel and axle will multiply force and if you apply the resistance to the wheel and the effort to the axle, it will multiply speed.

Power is the rate at which work is done, P = w/t, or work per unit time. The watt (W) is the unit for power and is equal to 1 joule (or newton-meter) per second. Horsepower (hp) is another familiar unit of power used primarily for rating internal combustion engines. 1 hp equals 746 watts.

The mechanical advantage of a wheel and axle is the input radius divided by the output radius:

MA = \( \frac{r_i}{r_o} \)

In this case, the input radius (where the effort force is being applied) is 5 and the output radius (where the resistance is being applied) is 6 for a mechanical advantage of \( \frac{5}{6} \) = 0.83

Tension is a force that stretches or elongates something. When a cable or rope is used to pull an object, for example, it stretches internally as it accepts the weight that it's moving. Although tension is often treated as applying equally to all parts of a material, it's greater at the places where the material is under the most stress.