Lever a fixed point. The lever operates by applying forces at different distances from the fulcrum, or a pivot. Assuming the lever does not dissipate or store energy, the power into the lever must equal the power out of the lever. As the lever rotates around the fulcrum, points farther from this pivot move faster than points closer to the pivot. Therefore, a force applied to a point farther from the pivot must be less than the force located at a point closer in, because power is the product of force and velocity. If "a" and "b" are distances from the
Compound lever sudden movement of the key. The earliest remaining writings regarding levers date from the 3rd century BC and were provided by Archimedes. ""Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the earth with a lever"" is a remark attributed to Archimedes, who formally stated the correct mathematical principle of levers (quoted by Pappus of Alexandria). The idea of the compound lever is attributed to the Birmingham inventor John Wyatt in 1743, when he designed a weighing machine that used four compound levers to transfer a load from a weighing platform to a central lever from which the weight