mechanical advantage

mechanical advantage

English

Noun

mechanical advantage (countable and uncountable, plural mechanical advantages)

1. (mechanical engineering) The ratio of the output force produced by a machine (especially a simple machine) to the applied input force.
   • 1825, Maria Edgeworth, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Works of Maria Edgeworth, Volume 1: Practical Education, Samuel H. Parker, page 304,

     […] and it will always be found, that the mechanical advantage of the wedge may be ascertained by comparing its perpendicular elevation with its base.

   • 1965, A. E. E. McKenzie, General Physics, Cambridge University Press, page 76,

     In the case of a lever with a mechanical advantage of 10 the effort has to move ten times as far as the load. This is the price which must always be paid for a mechanical advantage. Any machine which is designed to have a high mechanical advantage must also have a high velocity ratio. In fact, 'what is gained in force is lost in speed'.

   • 2005, Robert Michael Boyce, Arnold Masterman, Plumbing: A Practical Guide for Level 2, Nelson Thornes, page 131,

     Mechanical advantage is a ratio of like quantities and therefore has no units.

Synonyms

• leverage

Translations

ratio of output force to input force

Esperanto: mekanika avantaĝo, meĥanika avantaĝo French: please add this translation if you can German: Übersetzungsverhältnis n Italian: guadagno meccanico m