What effect does increasing the height of an inclined plane have on its mechanical advantage?

• A. It increases the amount of force needed to move the load
• B. It decreases the mechanical advantage
• C. It has no effect on the mechanical advantage
• D. It increases the mechanical advantage

Answer: (B)

Increasing the height of an inclined plane affects its mechanical advantage in a specific way. The mechanical advantage of an inclined plane is determined by the ratio of the length of the slope to the height of the incline. When the height of the inclined plane is increased while keeping the base length constant, this results in a steeper incline, leading to a shorter slope length compared to height. In such a case, the mechanical advantage decreases because the load needs more force to work against gravity due to the steeper angle.

Mechanical advantage is defined as the factor by which a machine multiplies the force applied to it. For an inclined plane, a greater height typically means that the angle becomes steeper, which requires more effort to move the same load upward. Therefore, increasing the height effectively makes the inclined plane less advantageous in terms of mechanical advantage since the applied force required increases overall.