New GR Machine, open source 22JUN2010

[broli]

1 min in your video and you have already made a fatal assumption. When the secondary fulcrum is locked like you point out that the mass is only acting on the position of the base of the secondary fulcrum. This is your wrong assumption. When the mass is locked it doesn't matter how it's fastened relative to a bigger wheel. The point it acts on will be the point it's real center of mass is sitting at.

But of course I always encourage experimentation, so I hope you can prove me wrong. And luckly for you this is an easy one you can even make with k'nex.

[FICAT10N]

-----1 min in A and you have already made a fatal assumption. When the secondary fulcrum is locked like you point out that the mass is only acting on the position of the base of the secondary fulcrum. This is your wrong assumption. When the mass is locked it doesn't matter how it's fastened relative to a bigger wheel. The point it acts on will be the point it's real center of mass is sitting at.

But of course I always encourage experimentation, so I hope you can prove me wrong. And luckly for you this is an easy one you can even make with k'nex.-----

I disagree. At the point that the lever is locked down, there is an an amount of force EQUAL to the weight on the right. Thus, the weight is centered on the fulcrum.

[broli]

-----1 min in A and you have already made a fatal assumption. When the secondary fulcrum is locked like you point out that the mass is only acting on the position of the base of the secondary fulcrum. This is your wrong assumption. When the mass is locked it doesn't matter how it's fastened relative to a bigger wheel. The point it acts on will be the point it's real center of mass is sitting at.

But of course I always encourage experimentation, so I hope you can prove me wrong. And luckly for you this is an easy one you can even make with k'nex.-----

I disagree. At the point that the lever is locked down, there is an an amount of force EQUAL to the weight on the right. Thus, the weight is centered on the fulcrum.

So according to your logic, if the secondary fulcrum was locked, the below attachment shows a perfectly balanced beam because all the weight is acting on the center of the main beam...right?

The reason why I instantly saw your mistake is because I made the same mistake in the past. And I was arrogant about it as well so feel free to lash at me as I did too.

[FICAT10N]

When the top lever is locked down, the load is balanced and the weight is on the fulcrum. Imagine to people sitting on a seesaw perfectly balanced. In this picture, the lower lever is balanced because the weight is even on both sides. The lever is not locked, contrary to the blue line.

[FICAT10N]

In this picture, the top lever is locked and the weight of the top lever is balanced on the fulcrum.