A person is trying to lift a stone of 500 N using the smaller piston of a hydraulic machine by applying a force on the larger piston. What suggestion would you give so the load can be lifted easily? Explain with a figure.

Question

Accepted Answer

The person is applying force on the wrong piston. In a hydraulic machine, the load should be placed on the LARGER piston and the input force should be applied on the SMALLER piston, not the other way around. Since A2/A1 (large piston area / small piston area) is always greater than 1, a small force on the small piston produces a much larger force on the large piston, according to F2 = F1 x (A2/A1). If the stone is placed on the large piston, a much smaller input force on the small piston will be enough to lift it easily.