Chapter 7, Problem 26A

Why can you exert greater force on the pedals of a bicycle if you pull up on the handlebars?

To determine

To explain: The reason for exerting greater force on bicycle pedals to pull up on the handlebars.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

Newton’s thirds law states that objects exert equal and opposite forces on each other.

While cycling, a pair of action-reaction forces will exist. Cycle moves forward when a person exerts a force on pedal. To exert a force on the pedal he has to pull up the handlebars. This is an upward force. When a person pulsl up the handle bars, the handle bars will also exerts force on a person. This is downward force which is transferred to the pedals. So, to exert a force on the pedal a person has to pull up handle bars.