Fulcrum
['fʊlkrəm;'fʌl-] or ['fʊlkrəm]
Definition
(n.) A prop or support.
(n.) That by which a lever is sustained, or about which it turns in lifting or moving a body.
(n.) An accessory organ such as a tendril, stipule, spine, and the like.
(n.) The horny inferior surface of the lingua of certain insects.
(n.) One of the small, spiniform scales found on the front edge of the dorsal and caudal fins of many ganoid fishes.
(n.) The connective tissue supporting the framework of the retina of the eye.
Edited by Daniel
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Support (of a lever), prop.
Checker: Wayne
Definition
n. (mech.) the prop or fixed point on which a lever moves: a prop:—pl. Ful′crums Ful′cra.—adj. Ful′crate supported with fulcrums.
Typed by Gwendolyn
Examples
- The fulcrum is at the wheel, the force is at the handles, the weight is on the wheelbarrow. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Move the 4-pound weight so that it is very near the fulcrum, say but 6 inches from it; then the spring balance registers a force only one fourth as great as the weight which it suspends. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The nutcracker (Fig. 101) is an illustration of a double lever of the wheelbarrow kind; the nearer the nut is to the fulcrum, the easier the cracking. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- If the load is one fourth as far from the fulcrum as the man's hands, he will need to lift with a force only one fourth as great as that of the load. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- For example, the fulcrum is sometimes at one end, the force at the opposite end, and the weight to be lifted between them. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Let the lever, any strong metal bar, be supported on a stone which serves as fulcrum; then if a man exerts his force at the end of the rod somewhat as in Figure 91 (p. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The force is 2 feet from the fulcrum, and the weight (4) is 1 foot from the fulcrum, so that Force × distance = Weight × distance, or 2 × 2 = 4 × 1. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The distance from the force to the fulcrum is called the force arm. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- If the load is halfway from the fulcrum to the man's hands, the man will have to lift with a force equal to one half the load. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
Editor: Nancy