A lever with a longer effort arm relative to the load arm makes the input force for a given load

• A. Lower
• B. Higher
• C. Unchanged
• D. Zero

Answer: (A)

Mechanical advantage on a lever comes from how far you push from the fulcrum compared to how far the load is from the fulcrum. The input torque must balance the load torque: F_in multiplied by the effort-arm length equals F_out multiplied by the load-arm length. So F_in = F_out × (load-arm length / effort-arm length).

If the effort arm is longer than the load arm, that ratio is less than one, meaning you need a smaller input force to lift the same load. For example, with a longer effort arm, pushing with less force still creates enough torque to match the load’s torque. If the arms were equal, the input force would equal the load; here it’s lower because the effort arm is longer.