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© Copyright 2003, Jim Loy
On the left is a simple pulley, which changes the direction of the force. On the right is the simplest block and tackle. These are considered to be two of the "simple machines" (along with the wheel, lever, inclined plane, wedge, and screw). The block and tackle that you see here allows us to lift twice the weight with the same force as with the simple pulley, but we only lift it half as far. A more complicated block and tackle involves several of these simple block and tackles, in one package deal. In this demonstration, move the green dots with your mouse:
The above Java animation was created with Cinderella (a geometry program).
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