A plumber applies a torque of 515 to a bolt using a wrench. If he moves his hand twice as far away on the wrench's handle from the bolt (doubling the radius), but applies the same force as before, how

Question

A plumber applies a torque of 515 to a bolt using a wrench. If he moves his hand twice as far away on the wrench's handle from the bolt (doubling the radius), but applies the same force as before, how much torque will he now apply?

Round to the nearest whole number.

Answer 1

Torque is equal to perpendicular force times distance from the pivot. The force is staying the same but the distance is doubling.

So lets say that τ = F*d where F is the force of the hand and d is the distance.

If we double the distance, we get:

F* (2d) = 2*F*d, which is 2τ.

So doubling the distance, doubles the torque. That's why when you move your hand further from the center, it gets easier to rotate the object, because torque is increasing.