11 Movable Pulley Examples:Explanations With Images And Fact

Movable pulleys are used in construction cranes, allowing them to lift loads with half the force by balancing weight. Elevators utilize a system of movable pulleys, reducing the motor’s load by 50% for efficient vertical transportation.

Let us read on.

Movable Pulley Examples:

Zip Lining:

A zip line is an exciting activity that involves the use of movable pulleys. Rope-ways gave rise to the idea of zip lining. In mountainous places, rope-ways are commonly used to transport people and objects. Zip lining is a similar activity that may be done in both forest and mountain locations. People’s safety is assured while zip lining by using rope to tie them together.

movable pulley examples
Image Credits: SKas, Ziplining in Caucasus, CC BY-SA 4.0

A person is expected to zip line from the top of the inclined cable to the bottom of the inclined cable by being hooked to the wire or holding it via a freely moving pulley. In this situation, the person acts as the load for the zip lining pulley. As a result, the person is directly attached to the pulley. Gravity assists the speed of the movable pulley’s movement.

Thus, gravity can carry you from one point to another with almost half the effort in zip lining due to the movable pulley. This is how the movable pulley made it possible for the adventurous person.

Construction Equipment:

A movable pulley allows you to lift large objects easily. Because the movable pulley has a mechanical advantage of 2, the effort required to lift a heavy object is nearly half of what it would be if resistance were not taken into account. As a result, if you need to lift a heavy object, the best option is to use a movable pulley. In construction, raw materials must be transported from the ground to the upper floors. As a result, a movable pulley is used there.

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Image Credits: Pixabay Free images

A movable pulley is utilized in construction equipment that requires the lifting and dumping of bulky and heavy objects. The pulley is attached to the load you need to transport. One end of a rope that passes through the pulley is fixed, while the other end is used to pull the object. Some construction equipment, such as cranes employ a movable pulley to ease the lifting of heavy objects. Bulldozers use movable pulleys in the same way as cranes do.

Climbing Pulley:

Climbing pulley, as the name implies, is used when you wish to climb anything high, such as a tree or a mountain. The person who wants to climb will act as a pulley load. As the person pulled the other end of the rope, he began to rise high. He goes down on the rope as soon as he stops tugging the rope. 

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Image Credits: Alex Indigo, Climbing quickdraws, CC BY 2.0

When a person falls down on a rope, it does not indicate that he will fall to the ground because he is already connected to the rope for safety reasons. This is how a movable pulley makes climbing high simpler.

Pulley in Building Wash:

It is vital to keep your building clean and disinfected. You must wash your home and building to keep them clean. A ladder with an easy reach can be used to clean the inside of your home. But what if you want to clean the outside of your high-rise buildings and home? A moveable pulley is utilised for this purpose. 

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Image Credits: Jolanta Dyr, Washing windows at the Ambassador Office Building – 06, CC BY-SA 3.0

Using a moving pulley, there are two ways to reach the top of the building. In the first situation, a machine such as a crane can be used to reach the top or higher floors that need to be cleaned. Another option is to wash the building in the same manner as tree climbing, with the exception that instead of empty hands, you will need to use a cleaner.

Sliding Doors of bathroom:

Sliding doors are often used at stores, bathrooms, office entrances, hotels, and closet doors as they do not take up more space to open. As the doors are sliding, they use a pulley to accomplish this purpose. 

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Image Credits: Pixabay Free Images

Think about carrying a door and putting it aside. Is it possible to do that? Manually, not, but a movable pulley makes it easy. When you push the door, the pulley moves, and along with the pulley, the door will also move. As the pulley is a movable pulley, the effort we need to slide the door is much less than the effort we need to apply to carry the door from one place to another. The number of movable pulleys used is based on the length of the sliding door.

Anatomical Pulley:

Just like the fixed pulley, a movable pulley is also present in the human body and is called an anatomical pulley. In general, in the human body, bone works as a pulley and the muscle that passes over the bone works as the cord or rope of the pulley. This fact we have already discussed in the fixed pulley examples. So now let us see how a movable pulley works in the human body.

Anatomical Pulley

Instead of bone, as in a fixed pulley, muscle itself acts as a pulley in a movable anatomical pulley. The muscle that lays beneath acts as a pulley when two muscles pass over each other. You’re probably asking how this is a movable pulley example. As a result, when the muscle below contracts, the efficiency of the muscle above it increases. So there is no pulley when this muscle is at rest, but when it contracts, it works on the principle of a moving pulley.

Industrial Hydraulic Material Lift Or Cargo Lift:

As we’ve seen, there are a variety of applications for movable pulleys, and one of them is the industrial sector. Yes, movable pulleys are utilised to carry loads in industries.

Industrial Hydraulic Material Lift Or Cargo Lift

Movable pulleys make it easier to carry loads from one floor to another in the industrial sector. It may go by different names depending on what it transports, such as oil derricks, hydraulic lifts, or cargo lifts. Basically, the goal is to carry the load with the least amount of effort. It can even transport people from one floor to another.

In an industrial area, by pressing a switch, your hydraulic lift will go from one floor to another. But how does it happen? Here, by pressing the switch, you are basically pulling the rope which is passing over the pulley. And with the electric force, the lift and the load that it carries also go from one floor to another.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

Q. What is pulley?

Ans: The pulley is basically a simple machine.

The pulley is nothing more than a wheel with a grooved rim that holds a cord, rope, belt, or chain. Pulleys can offer either direction or force multiplication, or both at the same time.

Q. What are the different types of pulleys? Describe each type in brief.

Ans: There are three main types of pulley, which are given below:

Fixed pulley: A fixed pulley has a supported axis of rotation with a bearing. In short, the axis of rotation can not change with the movement of the load. As the force you need to pull the load is not decreased using this pulley, we can say that it does not provide mechanical gain. The pulleys used in flagpoles and water wells are the common examples of a fixed pulley.

Movable pulley: The axis of rotation of a movable pulley is not fixed like that of a fixed pulley. It indicates that it changes as the load moves. Because the load is carried by two segments of a single rope via a moveable pulley, it has twice the mechanical advantage of a fixed pulley. When a heavy load needs to be carried, a movable pulley should be employed. Pulleys used in zip lining, cargo lifts, and construction equipment are examples of movable pulleys.

Compound Pulley: When a fixed and movable pulley are used together to improve mechanical advantage, it is referred to as a compound pulley. It’s also known as a block and tackle system or a combination pulley. Compound pulleys can be seen in sailboats and elevators.

Q. What is the difference between the working of a fixed pulley and a movable pulley?

 Ans: When lifting a heavy object, both fixed and mobile pulleys are employed.

The amount of effort required to lift an object with or without a fixed pulley is the same. Only the direction in which effort is applied has changed. When a movable pulley is used to lift a heavy object, the direction of application of effort remains the same, but the amount of effort is decreased by half. 

As a result, each has a unique set of benefits.

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