Question

Marcel is helping his two children, Jacques and Gilles, to balance on a seesaw so that they will be able to make it tilt back and forth without the heavier child, Jacques, simply sinking to the ground. Given that Jacques, whose weight is W, is sitting at distance L to the left of the pivot, at what distance L₁ should Marcel place Gilles, whose weight is w, to the right of the pivot to balance the seesaw?
Express your answer in terms of L, W and ω.

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

Given

Jacques weight is W and is at  distance of L to the left

Gilles weight is $\omega$ and should be Placed at right at a distance of $L_1$ from pivot

Distance should be such that the torque of Jacques and Gilles is same in magnitude but opposite in direction.

$W\times L-\omega \times L_1=0$

such that net torque is zero.

$L_1=\frac{W}{\omega }\times L$