Question

Using a crowbar, a person can remove a nail by exerting little force, whereas pulling directly on the nail requires a large force to remove it (you probably can't). why?

Answer 1

Here we deal with a lever law. It states that product of force and distance from a fixed point on a lever is equal on both sides.

F₁*d₁ = F₂*d₂

By analysing this formula we can see that applying small force on a great length equals great force on a small length.
To remove nail we need to apply certain force. If we use F₁ for this required force we can see that on other side we need to apply certain force. If we have greater arm length we need smaller force. In a crowbar arm length along which we apply force is greater than length of our arm. This leads to a conclusion that we need smaller force when using crowbar. Depending on the length of a nail it is possible that we need to apply force that is greater than force required to remove nail.