Mechanical Advantage

GREAT start for your apprentice !
As you stated this assumes, 100 % efficiency, i.e. zero friction, etc.
Small incremental educational steps are good.

Last year I attended a short presentation by Taylor Hamel; expert climber & DMM rep, on Mechanical advantage & friction.

He used a load cell to show how much friction effected the MA:
1. simple carabineer redirects
2. standard pulleys
3. very high efficiency (low friction) pulleys.

I don't know if he has published, or if anything is on YouTubed, etc.

The effect of friction was mind-boggling, at least to me.
The effect, demonstrated by the load cell, was HUGE ! Totally unexpected !

My "take-away" was that I would never bother with a cheap, or even standard pulley fiddle block.
It added almost nothing to the MA for lifting, because of friction ! ! !

The friction would aid in holding or lowering a load; but would not aid in lifting.
(Unless very high efficiency (low friction) pulleys are used.)

For what it's worth .............
 
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While a bit more of a complex read, someone, I think maybe @thetreespider, posted this diagram about the fun stuff you can do with a 5:1. You might incorporate some of the concepts into your discussion of compound systems. I love building a quick 10:1 if I really need to put some ass into the rope.

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Took me a long time to find a good picture when I taught myself, probably because I don't know the accurate vernacular, but a picture and description of how and where to set a progress capture prusik on the pulley systems is important. Something like this:
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Beautifully written. Easy to understand. Love the simple illustrations and the pictures of real MA systems. Great work. I'll pass this along the social media chain - thank you!


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Very well done! I just reread it. I learned a lot as a DIY business owner and operator- it's one of those things I have to do 2 or 3 times hands-on to really see and spatially understand.

This is a great tool for anyone using MA in work - especially the progress capture section ;-)


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Thank you to everyone for the support. This article was very well received across the board. So amazing to pour your heart into something and have an effect on others. My whole site is geared to apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship training for new recruits. I am training my apprentice James by putting all of my knowledge online, in written and video form, so that he and anyone else who is interested can benefit. I just redesigned the home page to make it easier to find everything. Adding stuff almost everyday, just put up a new video this morning. If you have any young people who you think could get something useful out of the site, please pass it along. Check it out here: educatedclimber.com. Thanks again.
 
Additions for considerations.
Parbuckle
Spanish windlass
Rope clamp /endless loop with pole or lever to twist and lock
Vector pull - pulling on the tail or another rope attached to the loaded system from another angle ie sweating the line
 
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