Sometimes, even with a wrench, one cannot loosen a nut that is frozen tightly to a bolt. In such a situation, it is often possible to loosen the nut by slipping a long pipe over the wrench handle. The purpose of the pipe is to extend the length of the wrench handle, so that the applied force can be located farther away from the nut. Explain why this trick works.

Question

Ryan Pearson

Social Studies

14 March, 05:13

Sometimes, even with a wrench, one cannot loosen a nut that is frozen tightly to a bolt. In such a situation, it is often possible to loosen the nut by slipping a long pipe over the wrench handle. The purpose of the pipe is to extend the length of the wrench handle, so that the applied force can be located farther away from the nut. Explain why this trick works.

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Aleah Ellison · Answer 1

This trick would definitely work because if we take the magnitude of the produced torque by a force, we have:

Magnitude of torque (τ) = Force (F) x Lever arm (L).

Slipping a long pipe over the wrench handle as stated in the question would increase the length of the wrench handle. However, the Force still remains the same despite that the lever arm is now larger. With this, a torque produced (Using the formula above) will be greater and as such can be used for removing the frozen nut.