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A screwdriver and a crowbar can both be used as first-class levers. A scissors is really a double lever
the fulcrum is the rivet in the middle, the effort force is applied with the fingers, and the load force is
what is cut.
A class 2 lever has the resistance or load in the middle, the fulcrum at one end and the effort
at the other. An example of a class 2 lever is a wheelbarrow, where the front wheel is the
fulcrum.
A
wheelbarrow is a second-class lever. Both a nutcracker and a hinged car door are examples of
second-class levers. On the car, the hinge is the fulcrum, the effort is applied at the handle near
the edge of the door, and the resistance is the weight of the door itself.
The F stands for fulcrum, in the middle of a class 1 lever (e.g., seesaw).
The R stands for resistance (which is the same thing as the load), and it is in the middle
of a class 2 lever (e.g., wheelbarrow).
The E stands for effort, which is in the middle of a class 3 lever (e.g., broom).
A class 3 lever has the effort in the middle, the fulcrum at one end and the load at the other. An
example of a class 3 lever is a broom.
A broom is a third-class lever. Tweezers and tongs are pairs of third-class levers with the same
fulcrum. A fishing rod can be used as a third-class lever.
As we saw in the last section, a characteristic of third-class levers is that they confer no
mechanical advantage. And the first-class levers in the body often operate with a mechanical
advantage less than 1. The human body is built for speed, rather than mechanical advantage!
First-class levers in the human body
An example of a first-class lever is provided by the head, top of the spine, and neck muscles. The
fulcrum of this system is the joint between the occipital bone at the base of the skull and the
atlas, the first vertebra of the neck. The weight of the head is like the load, tending to rotate the
head forward and down (as one might move if looking through a microscope or writing at a
desk). The neck extensor muscles exert the effort to hold the head up.
A push-up turns the head, neck, trunk, and legs into a second-class lever.
Classes of levers. (a) In a first-class lever, the fulcrum (F) is set up between the resistance (R)
and the effort (M). (b) In a second-class lever, the resistance is between the fulcrum and the
effort. (c) In a third-class lever, the effort is between the fulcrum and the resistance.
to other muscles, or to fascia, which are connective tissue sheets between muscles.
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