How does an inclined plane reduce effort force?

Answer 1

The short answer is: it lets gravity do some of the work for you. The long answer is: an object at rest on a LEVEL surface can be described as having a sum of forces acting upon it that are in equilibrium, the more pertinent ones being the force due to gravity (pulling it straight down, in this case perpendicular to the plane) and the force of friction (which just doesn't want to let it move in any horizontal direction WHILE the object is in contact with the plane). When we tilt (or incline) the surface the object is resting on (the plane), gravity is still pulling straight down and friction still doesn't want it to slide, but now gravity is working against friction (or more specifically, part of the force due to gravity is now acting in one direction not perpendicular to the plane). So now, if we push the object (effort force) downhill, we don't have to push as hard as when it was level, because some of the force of gravity is already working in the same direction. If we are able to control the incline, and can gradually increase the angle, we will eventually find the angle where gravity overcomes friction and the object starts to slide on its own (IMPORTANT safety consideration here: don't use breakable objects or planes that shouldn't be scratched. When I used a flat rock on mom's glass table she got SO mad!). From this basic set of information we can start investigating many things, such as; how much friction force exists between two types of objects, surface area of contact, lubricants, does distance from the center of the earth change the angle where it overcomes friction, moving frames of reference, ... Hope this helps.

Answer 2

gend