Enter the lever force, distance from the lever force to the fulcrum, and distance from the fulcrum to the effort force into the calculator to determine the effort force.

Effort Force Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the Effort Force.

EF = LF * D1 / D2

  • Where EF is the effort force (N)
  • LF is the lever force (N)
  • D1 is the distance from the lever force to the fulcrum
  • D2 is the distance from the fulcrum to the effort force

The units for distance can be anything as long as both D1 and D2 have the same units.

What is an Effort Force?

Definition:

An effort force is defined as the force applied to a lever to produce a given lever force. The effort force is dependent on the distances between the fulcrum and the lever and effort force points.

How to Calculate Effort Force?

Example Problem:

The following example outlines the steps and information needed to calculate the Effort Force.

First, determine the lever force. In this example, the lever force is 40 N.

Next, determine the distance from the lever to the fulcrum. This is measured to be 3 feet.

Next, determine the distance from the fulcrum to the effort force. For this problem, this is measured to be 10 ft.

Finally, calculate the effort force using the formula above:

EF = LF * D1 / D2

EF = 40*3 / 10

EF = 12 N