Mechanical Advantage

Mechanisms are often used to allow a small effort to move a large load. For example, a car jack allows an average person to lift a car which may weigh as much as 2000kg whilst exerting only a force equivalent to 10 or 20kg.

This property of mechanisms is known as Mechanical Advantage (MA), and for any particular system, has a specific numerical value. The Mechanical Advantage of a system is calculated by dividing the load by the effort.