Consider a 100 kg Father and his 20 kg girl. They decide to enjoy balancing on a seesaw, which is a uniform board 4 m long and pivoted exactly at its center. If girl sits at the seesaw's end (2m from the center), how far from the center on the other side should the father sit?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To balance the seesaw, the moments on both sides of the pivot must be equal. The moment is calculated as mass times distance from the pivot. The girl's moment is 20 kg * 2 m = 40 kg*m. To balance, the father's moment must also be 40 kg*m. Therefore, 100 kg * distance = 40 kg*m, giving a distance of 0.4 m.

Consider a 100 Kg Father and His 20 Kg Girl