Calculating the Force and Distance for Lifting a Heavy Object: A Practical Guide

[lukahn12]

Hey everyone. First post here. Sorry if this is the wrong place. Force calculation seems to fall under classic physics, though. Or to me it does.

Anyway, I have a large thing outside (block, wall, whatever you want to call it.). It is laying flat on the ground. I was wondering how I would go about calculating the required force to lift one edge of the wall up, from the ground to perpendicular to the ground, so the wall will stand.

The wall weighs about 450 lbs, and the distance from the edge I am lifting from to the edge where the wall will pivot is about 7 feet.

After I know the force required to lift the wall, I would like to calculate how much I actually lifted. 450 lbs is a nice though, but it's not happening. :P I assume lifting one edge cuts the weight lifted roughly in half, but I'd like to KNOW.

Thank you all for your time and any future help!

~The Amazing Oti

 

[Phrak]

Initially the ground supports half of the weight and the lifting device, at the other edge, supports the other half.

 

[lukahn12]

Thanks for the fast reply. :)

So my assumption that I'm only lifting about half the weight is correct, then?