Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2022 June 10

= June 10 =

Simulate heavy weight with levels.
In the gym, people normally pick x kg of iron weights when they want to exercise lifting x kg. Wouldn't it make financially sense to use a level to increase the load, (say increase by 10x putting the weight at 10 cm of a 1 m level) and use a 5 kg weight to lift 50 kg? --Bumptump (talk) 18:17, 10 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Do you mean a lever? You could also use a pulley or gears to get mechanical advantage. Weight machines do use various kinds of mechanical advantage: see for example. However, if you change the mechanical advantage, you'll also change the distance the weights need to travel as the user completes the motion. For example, if you make 5 kg of weights feel like 50 kg, the weights will also need to move through 10 times as great a distance. Making the machine 10x as large will have implications for its cost, space requirements, and safety, which you'd have to balance against the cost of the weights themselves. --Amble (talk) 18:48, 10 June 2022 (UTC)
 * If you really want to reduce the need for weights, you can make an exercise machine with other forms of resistance, like friction or springs. --Amble (talk) 19:12, 10 June 2022 (UTC)