A pulley system with an IMA of 3 is being used to lift a 300 pound object. What is the Minimum amount of force that must be applied to the system to lift the object?

Answer 1

If there is no friction in the system, the IMA is also the AMA, meaning a force of 100lbf is enough to hold the weight of the mass in equilibrium. In order to actually lift the mass, a (small) acceleration is required and the force needs to increase by that amount (F = m * a).