BUried
Jess, Zac, and Ben wipe their eyes clear of snow and look round for Amelie,
who is no longer beside them. They spot her—half-buried under snow,
with her leg pinned down by a fallen tree.
“Oh no, Amelie! Are you OK?” they all shout, running towards her.
“Yeah, I think so,” says Amelie. “Being caught in that avalanche was like
being tossed about in a giant clothes dryer! Get this tree off me, will you?”
“But it’s too heavy for us to lift,” says Ben.
“Lay a branch over that rock to make a
lever
to lift the tree. The rock will
be the
fulcrum
, the point around which the lever turns,” instructs Amelie.
“The rock is too close to you. We need to roll it further away,” says Jess.
“No, it’ll work best closer to the tree we want to lift,” insists Ben.
“Do something!” cries Zac. “Before Amelie freezes to death!”
12
What do
you think?
Is Ben right? Is it true that the
closer a lever’s fulcrum is to
the
load
, the less
effort
is
needed to lift the load?
