I have chosen a hammer as my household tool for this project. It has two different levers. A 1st class lever and a 3rd class lever.
This is a picture of the hammer I used.
Many people think of a hammer as tool used for hardware. However, what they don't know is that a hammer is a "simple machine" (ooooh ahhhhh). That's right an not only is a just a "simple machine" but, it has two different types of simple machines on it. These are called levers. A hammer has a 1st Class lever and a 3rd Class lever. So, a 1st class lever means the fulcrum is somewhere in the middle of the object (basically not on either of the ends) a force is applied in a direction in which the load moves opposite too. In a 3rd class lever the fulcrum is at one of the ends of the object and the force is applied near the other end of the object and the load is at the end near the force. In this type of lever both the force and the load move in the same direction. Some examples to better help you understand these different levers. A 1st class lever would be like removing a nail from a board whereas a 3rd class lever would be like hammering in the nail to the board. I hope you have learned about the difference in levers now to discuss mechanical advantage. Mechanical Advantage is the ratio of the simple machine's output force / input force. In this case the mechanical advantage for the 1st class lever would be less then 1. Why?!? Well simply because you are putting more force into the hammer, than the hammer is pulling out the nail. Also, for the 3rd class lever the mechanical advantage would be greater then 1 because the force you put into the hammer transfers into the hammer hitting the nail thus driving the nail into the board and generating more force then if you had tried to just push the nail into the board with your hand.
