Mechanical advantage is all about trading one thing for another--namely force and distance--and using that trade to your advantage. I have demonstrated it with a plank and a fulcrum by having a first grade kid easily lift a 9th grade kid. The concept reappears in hydraulics. With electricity, a device called a transformer can trade amperage for voltage, and vice versa.
Here is a clever web page that does a great job of driving home the concept of leverage with a ruler and some coins. Simple but effective. Click here to see it.
Here is a site that looks at leverage in a little more detail--easy to follow with easy math. Click here to see it.
Here is a wonderful site. The link will take you to a page about simple machines. Then if you click around the site you see that the theme is Leonardo Da Vinci and inventions. Wow!
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