LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

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Introduction

A pulley is a wheel on axle that is designed to support movement and change of direction
of a cable or belt along its circumference. The pulleys are used in a variety of ways to lift
loads, apply forces, and to transmit power. In nautical contexts, the assembly of wheel,
axle, and supporting shell is referred to as a "block." A pulley is also called
sheave or drums and may have a groove between two flanges around it circumferences.
The drive element of a pulley system can be a rope, cable, belt, or chain that runs over the
pulley inside the groove.

In this experiment we have some objectives

i.

To determine the change in direction of the cord as it passes over pulley will
affect the tension in a pulley cord

ii.

Mechanical advantage of a simple combination of fixed and movable pulleys is

going to define in this experiment.

Theoretically the mechanical advantage of pulleys is given by

Mechanical Advantage (MA) = W/P
Where;
W = the applied load, which is the weight of the weight hook plus the pulley block
P = the effort to just raise the weight, W.

Apparatus
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.

Knurled nuts
Adjustable hooks
Pulleys
Single pulley block
Weight hooks
Spring balance
Weights
Cord approximately 600mm length

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LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

Procedure
Preparation
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Mounting panel in the vertical position with secure point.

Adjustable hook with correct position and locked with nuts.
Slide the hoop up to maximum point to give the shortest length.
Place the pulley on the mounting board and secure with nut.
Hang the spring balance on the adjustable hook.

Test 1
a) Apparatus is fixed on the position as shown in the figure 1. 0.5N of load is adding
to weight hook to give a total weight of 1N on the cord. ( The weight of the hook
is 0.5N)
b) Read the reading shown on the spring balance and record down the result.
c) 2N, 3N, 4N and 5N of load are added consequently by repeating the step 1 and 2.

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LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

Test 2
a) Set up the apparatus as shown in Figure 2.
b) A single long cord (500mm) is use and repeat for Test 1. The friction between the
cord and pulley will make the apparatus will now be rather insensitive.
c) The weight of spring balance reading is record down.

Test 3
a)

blocks weight is measure and record

the weight.
b) Apparatus is arranged as the position
in Figure 3 that cord is passing through the pulley block.
c) Repeat the loads as showed in Test 1.
d) Record down the reading of weight on the spring balance.

Test 4
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Pulley

down
shown

LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

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a) Apparatus is set up as shown in the figure.

b) Determine the force, P in able to raise the load W in applying load as in test 1.
c) Compare the reading of the spring load with the force P.

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LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

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Result and calculation

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LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

For Test 1
Total Weight including weight hook, W
(N)
1
2
3
4
5

Weight shown on the spring balance, W

(N)
1
2
3
4
5

For Test 2
Total Weight including weight hook, W
(N)
1
2
3
4
5

Weight shown on the spring balance, W

(N)
1
2
3
4
5

For Test 3
Total Weight including weight hook, W
(N)
1
2
3
4
5

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Weight shown on the spring balance, W

(N)
1.1
1.5
2.1
2.6
3.1

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LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

For Test 4
Weight, W (N)

The effort to raise

the weight, P (N)

1
2
3
4
5

1.05
1.6
2.05
2.6
3.05

Weight shown on
the spring balance,
W (N)
1.1
1.5
2.1
2.6
3.1

For test 4,
Weight = 1N
The effort to raise the weight = 1.05N
Mechanical Advantage (MA) =

W
P

1
= 1.05
= 1.0500

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Mechanical
Advantage (MA)
1.0500
1.2500
1.4634
1.5385
1.6393

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LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

Discussion
Independent Variables: The mechanical advantage of the pulleys.

Dependent Variables: Weight (measured the force (N).)

1. The simplest theory of operation for a pulley system assumes that the pulleys and
lines are weightless, and that there is no energy loss due to friction. It is also
assumed that the lines do not stretch. Since the surface of the cord is smooth, we
consider that they are frictionless. In addition the tension in the rope must be the
same for each of its parts. This means that the two parts of the rope supporting the
moving block must each support half the load.
2. Mechanical advantage is the amount by which a machine increases force against
resistance. Machines is used to gain a mechanical advantage against the force of
resistance. This can be calculated by dividing the amount of work output by the
amount of effort force. When a machine takes a small input force and increases
the magnitude of the output force, a mechanical advantage has been
produced. The smaller the part of the force, the greater the actual mechanical
advantage.
3. It gives same mechanical advantage as the method used in Test 4. In figure 5, it is
call gun tackle, one block is attached to fixed mounting point and the other is
attached to the moving load. Therefore, the mechanical advantage is equal to the
number of parts of the rope that support the moving block

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LAB 08 - THE SIMPLE PULLEYS

Conclusion
From the experiment, it show that when the weight increases, the mechanical advantage
also increases. Besides that, from figure 4 and 5, we can conclude that the mechanical
advantage is equal to the number of parts of the rope that support the moving block.

Reference
1) http://www.sophia.org/tutorials/simple-machines-pulley3
2) https://sites.google.com/site/mariomarkoutsasscience/pulley-lab
3) https://www.khanacademy.org/science/discoveries-projects/new-topic2013-12-13T21:35:39.140Z/a/pulleys

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