Block and Tackle: An Example of a Class of Tools

An example of a class of tools called force multipliers is a block and tackle. You’ve used a force multiplier if you’ve ever removed a nut from a bolt with a wrench that you could not twist off with your fingers. If you have a very heavy object like a hundred pound crate that you need to lift a certain height off the ground, to load on a truck or ship. You will surely need to apply a hundred pounds of force upward against gravity. Only a small hundred pound crate can be lifted by a strong person but if the size of the crate were too large, even the strong person would need help. To be able to do this, block and tackle is a great help.

Block and Tackle: An Arrangement of Rope and Pulleys

If you have ever used an engine hoist or a come-along, if you have ever looked at the rigging on a sailboat or if you have ever looked at the end of a crane, then you have seen a block and tackle at work. A block and tackle is an arrangement of rope and pulleys allowing you to trade force for distance.

Block and Tackle is the Wooden Block with Two Pulleys

Unknown to the Egyptian builders and architects of the time the great pyramids of Egypt were apparently built without benefit of cranes and
block and tackle techniques. Although the great inventor Archimedes was known to use them the identity of the originator of the block and tackle is lost to history. When people hear the phrase ‘block and tackle’, they are thinking of the wooden block with two pulleys set side-by-side. Block and tackle are used in pairs as they are invaluable on sailing ships, where large sails must be moved against the force of strong winds.