Mechanical Overkill, an Undesirable Tradeoff in Compound Pulleys
We’ve been discussing the mechanical advantage that compound pulleys provide to humans during lifting operations and last time we hit upon the fact that there comes a point of diminished return, a reality that engineers must…
Friction Reduces Pulleys’ Mechanical Advantage
The presence of friction in mechanical designs is as guaranteed as conflict in a good movie, and engineers inevitably must deal with the conflicts friction produces within their mechanical designs. But unlike a good movie,…
Friction Results in Heat and Lost Work Within a Compound Pulley
Last time we saw how the presence of friction reduces mechanical advantage in an engineering scenario utilizing a compound pulley. We also learned that the actual amount of effort, or force, required to…
Work Input Does Not Equal Work Output
We left off Previously with an engineering analysis of energy factors within a compound pulley scenario, in our case a Grecian man lifting an urn. We devised an equation to quantify the amount of work effort he…
Da Vinci’s Tribometre; a Historical Look at Pulleys and Friction
In our series on pulleys we’ve been discussing the effects of friction, subjects also studied by Leonardo da Vinci, a historical figure whose genius contributed so much to the worlds…
Calculating Velocity — de Coriolis’ Kinetic Energy Formula
Last Topic we discussed Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis’ formula to compute kinetic energy. here we’ll use it to determine the speed of descent, or velocity, of the coffee mug we’ve been watching closely…
De Coriolis’ Formula to Compute Work and the Newton
A case in point is Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis‘ formula to compute work, as set out in his Principle of Work. We’ll work with his formula today, and we’ll introduce a unit of measurement used to quantify…
Focus on Dynamics, Part II, Kinetics
In Part I of Mechanical Engineering, Focus On Dynamics, we talked about kinematics. in This Part II, we’ll talk about kinetics. Kinetics is the study of the relationship that exists between forces acting on…
Work and Energy Share an Interesting Relationship
Last time we used de Coriolis’ formula to compute work to calculate the amount of work performed while pushing a loaded wheelbarrow a distance of 3 meters. We found that in order to…
The Work-Energy Theorem — Background
The Work-Energy Theorem states that the work required to slow or stop a moving object is equal to the change in energy the object experiences while in motion, that is, how its kinetic…
