Pulley System Calculator

Calculate the mechanical advantage and required force for various pulley systems.

System Specs

Load Weight (W) (kg)

Number of Support Strings (n)

Efficiency (%) (%)

Calculation Results

Enter weight and pulley count

Overview

A pulley is a simple machine that reduces the force needed to lift a heavy load by distributing the weight over multiple segments of rope.

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Pro Tips

Mechanical Advantage (MA) is equal to the number of rope segments supporting the load.
The force (effort) needed is F = W / (MA × Efficiency).
You trade force for distance: you must pull more rope to lift the weight a small amount.

Fun Facts

"Archimedes used a complex pulley system to single-handedly pull a fully loaded ship onto shore."
"Block and tackle systems use several pulleys to achieve massive lifting capacity."
"Real pulleys have friction and rope stiffness, reducing efficiency typically to 80-95%."

Formula: Force = Weight / (MA × η)

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