Many machines help work to be done by multiplying the force of your effort. The amount that your effort has been increased is called the mechanical advantage (scientists use the symbol “MA” for short). A machine can create mechanical advantage by decreasing the amount of force needed to do work even though the actual amount of work does not change. We’ll be looking at examples of this. A machine has mechanical advantage when it puts out more force than is put in. The amount of mechanical advantage can be described as the ratio or comparison of output force to the amount of input force. The output force is the amount of force that the machine applies to do the work. The input force is the amount of force needed to operate the machine. To find the mechanical advantage, the force output is divided by the force input.
Mechanical Advantage Equation
Mechanical Advantage = Force Output ÷ Force Input
