Home › AP Physics 1 › Physics › Statics and Torque › Doubling the perpendicular lever arm while keepi…
Doubling the perpendicular lever arm while keeping the force the same changes torque to:
AExactly the same
BTwice its value
CHalf its value
DOne quarter of it
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Twice its value
1. Torque scales with both the force and the lever arm.
2. The perpendicular lever arm is the shortest distance from the pivot to the line of action.
3. A smaller force at the same distance gives a smaller torque, so torque rises with force.
4. It rises the same way with the lever arm, since both enter as a product.
5. Doubling the lever arm therefore doubles the torque.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics for AP Courses 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 9 'Statics and Torque', sections 9.1-9.5_
Related questions
A rigid bar has zero net force but a nonzero net torque. The bar is:For a nail puller, the mechanical advantage is:Which describes a ball resting on a flat horizontal floor?A ball balanced on top of a dome is displaced slightly. This equilibrium is:A system that stays balanced while rotating at constant angular velocity satisfies:In the seesaw analysis, the distances used are measured to points directly below each chilA smaller force acting at the same distance from the hinges produces a torque that is:The distance used in a torque calculation is described as the perpendicular distance from