Question

Marcel is helping his two children, Jacques and Gilles, to balance on a seesaw so that they will be able to make it tilt back and forth without the heavier child, Jacques, simply sinking to the ground. Given that Jacques, whose weight is WWW, is sitting at distance LLL to the left of the pivot, at what distance L1L1L_1 should Marcel place Gilles, whose weight is www, to the right of the pivot to balance the seesaw

Answer 1

Answer:

L1 = WL/w

Explanation:

Jacques's weight = W

Jacques's distance from the pivot = L

Gilles's weight = w

Gilles's distance from the pivot must be L1

For the two boy to balance each other, they must generate equal amount of torques around the pivot

Torque = distance x weight

For Jacques, the torque generated = WL

For Gilles, the torque generated = wL1

Balancing the two torques, we have

WL = wL1

the distance L1 must be equal to

L1 = WL/w