Dave's PCF WIP: Terms

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first-class lever

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"First-class Lever" refers to a type of lever. A lever is a simple machine that includes a fulcrum, a lever arm, and a load arm. In a first-class lever, the lever arm and load arm are on opposite ends of a rigid structure and the fulcrum engages with, and enables, the rigid structure to pivot or rotate about an axis transverse to the rigid structure and positioned at the fulcrum. The fulcrum is between the load arm and the lever arm. The lever arm receives or encounters an effort force and the load arm receives or encounters a load. Traditionally, the rigid structure is a planar structure, however, the rigid structure can also be a cylindrical structure that may or may not have an opening that extends the length of and through the center of the cylindrical structure.
The lever arm is the part of the rigid structure that accepts or receives an effort force applied to the lever arm to operate the lever. The load arm is the part of the rigid structure that accepts, receives, or acts against a load. A load force is a force created by the load arm in response to the effort force applied to the lever arm. a fulcrum is a point or structure about which a lever pivots or rotates.
The length of the lever arm is the distance from where the effort force is applied to the fulcrum. The length of the load arm is the distance from the fulcrum to where the load arm encounters the load. A fulcrum is a pivot point or pivot axis of the lever that converts an effort force applied perpendicular to the lever arm into a load force perpendicular to the load where the load arm contacts the load.
Applying an effort force to the lever arm creates a moment or torque about the fulcrum equal to the magnitude of the force multiplied by the length of the lever arm (e.g., the distance from where the effort force is applied along the lever arm to the fulcrum). The lever arm and effort force create a mechanical advantage at the point that the load arm encounters the load. Specifically, the mechanical advantage is defined as the length of the lever arm divided by the length of the load arm. The mechanical advantage provides a magnitude for how much the effort force is multiplied. In a first-class lever configuration, the force on the load is equal to the effort force multiplied by the length of the lever arm (the distance between where the effort force is applied perpendicular to the lever arm and the fulcrum). This is known as the principle of torque. Thus, in general, the longer the lever arm the greater the force applied to the load with the same level of effort force.
The present disclosure uses the benefits of a first-class lever. Of course, other embodiments may implement a second-class or third-class lever to facilitate applying a force to a load.