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ASVAB Mechanical Comprehension Practice Test

Connie lifts a 80 pound box from the floor onto a loading dock 2 ft. off the ground. Sam slides the same box along a ramp to move it up another 2 ft. onto a flatbed truck. Who has done more work?
They have done an equal amount of work

Neither have done any work

Sam

Connie

2 Which of the following statements about this pulley configuration is false?

Has a mechanical advantage of 1

Work output always equals work input

This is a movable pulley configuration

This is a fixed pulley configuration

If this lever is in equilibrium with an effort force of 40 ft. lb. at the blue arrow and a resistance force of 8 ft. lb. at the green box, what is its mechanical advantage?
0.8

0.05

0.1

0.2

If the radius of the axle is 7" and the radius of the wheel is 12", what is the mechanical advantage of this wheel and axle configuration?

12

12 7

If the green box is 72 ft. from the fulcrum and a certain force applied 8 ft. from the fulcrum at the blue arrow balances the lever, what is the mechanical advantage?
2.25

18

4.5

Solutions

Connie lifts a 80 pound box from the floor onto a loading dock 2 ft. off the ground. Sam slides the same box along a ramp to move it up another 2 ft. onto a flatbed truck. Who has done more work?
They have done an equal amount of work

Neither have done any work

Sam

Connie

SOLUTION
Work is force multiplied by distance. Because both Connie and Sam moved the same weight the same distance they have done an equal amount of work. Sam employed the mechnacial advantage of an inclined plane so he exerted less effort to do the work but the amount of work done was still the same.

2 Which of the following statements about this pulley configuration is false?

Has a mechanical advantage of 1

Work output always equals work input

This is a movable pulley configuration

This is a fixed pulley configuration

SOLUTION
A fixed pulley changes the direction of the effort but does not multiply effort. The pulley doesn't move with the resistance and it has a mechanical advantage of 1 where work output always equals work input.

If this lever is in equilibrium with an effort force of 40 ft. lb. at the blue arrow and a resistance force of 8 ft. lb. at the green box, what is its mechanical advantage?
0.8

0.05

0.1

0.2

SOLUTION
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 = Fr / Fe = 8 ft. / 40 ft. = 0.2 In this case, the mechanical advantage is less than one meaning that each unit of effort force results in just 0.2 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 at a sacrifice of force at the resistance. Different lever styles have different purposes and multiply forces in different ways.

If the radius of the axle is 7" and the radius of the wheel is 12", what is the mechanical advantage of this wheel and axle configuration?

12

12 7

SOLUTION
The mechanical advantage of a wheel and axle lies in the difference in radius between the inner (axle) wheel and the outer wheel. But, this mechanical advantage is only realized when the input effort and load are applied to different wheels. Applying both input effort and load to the same wheel results in a mechanical advantage of 1.

If the green box is 72 ft. from the fulcrum and a certain force applied 8 ft. from the fulcrum at the blue arrow balances the lever, what is the mechanical advantage?
2.25

18

4.5

SOLUTION
Because this lever is in equilibrium, we know that the effort force at the blue arrow is equal to the resistance weight of the green box. For a lever that's in equilibrium, one method of calculating mechanical advantage (MA) is to divide the length of the effort arm (Ea) by the length of the resistance arm (Ra): MA = Ea / Ra = 8 ft. / 72 ft. = 9 When a lever is in equilibrium, the torque from the effort and the resistance are equal. The equation for equilibrium is Rada = Rb db where a and b are the two points at which effort/resistance is being applied to the lever. In this problem, Ra and Rb are such that the lever is in equilibrium meaning that some multiple of the weight of the green box is being applied at the blue arrow. For a lever, this multiple is a function of the ratio of the distances of the box and the arrow from the fulcrum. That's why, for a lever in equilibrium, only the distances from the fulcrum are necessary to calculate mechanical advantage. If the lever were not in equilibrium, you would first have to calculate the forces and distances necessary to put it in equilibrium and then divide Ea by Ra to get the mechanical advantage.

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