Question

A pair of scissors is used to cut a piece of a cloth by keeping it at a distance of

8.0cm from its rivet and applying an effort of 10kgf by fingers at a distance of

2.0cm from the rivet. Find the mechanical advantage of scissors and the load

offered by the cloth. How does the pair of scissors act: as a force multiplier or

as a speed multiplier?​

Answer 1

• Effort arm = 2 cm
• Load arm = 8.0 cm

Given effort =10kg

• Mechanical advantage M.A = Effort arm/ Load arm = 2/8 = 0.25
• load = M.A × effort = 0.25 × 10 = 2.5 kgf The pair of scissors acts as a speed multiplier because MA <