Load armThe part of the lever between the load and the fulcrum.
Effort armThe part of the lever from effort to fulcrum.
Wheelbarrow 3
FulcrumOn a wheelbarrow the wheel is the fulcrum.
LoadThe load sits in the middle, between wheel and handles.
EffortThe effort lifts the handles at the far end.
Fishing rod 3
FulcrumThe hand at the butt of the rod is the fulcrum.
LoadThe fish at the tip is the load.
EffortThe other hand pulls up between the fulcrum and the load.
How this list was compiled: Every name and every example checked on 2026-10-01 in two sources. (1) Wikipedia, Lever, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lever : a lever is a beam or stiff rod pivoted on a fulcrum; levers are classified by where the fulcrum, effort and resistance (or load) are); class I has the fulcrum between effort and load (a seesaw), class II the load between effort and fulcrum (a wheelbarrow), class III the effort between load and fulcrum (a fishing rod); load arm and effort arm. (2) Energy Education, University of Calgary, Lever, https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Lever : a lever needs a fulcrum and a rigid bar; effort is the input force and the load causes the resistance force; class-1 levers include seesaws, a class-2 lever is a wheelbarrow, class-3 levers include fishing rods. (3) Children's science books, passages read through archive.org's full-text search: Simple Machines (2009), https://archive.org/details/simplemachinesfo00silv (in a second-class lever the load is between the fulcrum and the effort, a wheelbarrow; a fishing rod is a third-class lever); Levers in Our Lives (2008), https://archive.org/details/leversinourlives0000kova (a seesaw is a first-class lever; fulcrum, load, effort force). Licence: own work
The drawing: Own drawing from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
To label the parts of a lever diagram, write a name on the line for each number. Three levers are drawn, one of each class, so fulcrum, load and effort are each the answer three times.
Read the full guide
Word bank to label the parts of a lever system
Five names fill the eleven lines: effort, effort arm, fulcrum, load, load arm. The two arms are used once each, on the seesaw.
How to work out each number
On each drawing find the fat arrow first: that is the effort. The thing being moved is the load: a crate, a heap, a fish. The point that stays put while the rest turns is the fulcrum. Numbers 4 and 5 are the two halves of the seesaw's plank, each named for the part at its end.
When marking, also accept pivot on lines 1, 6 and 9, resistance for load and input force for effort.
To go further, have the class write first, second or third class under each drawing.
Questions and answers
How do you remember the three classes of levers?
By the part in the middle, with the letters F, R, E for 1, 2, 3. The fulcrum is in the middle of a first-class lever, the resistance (the load) in a second-class lever, and the effort in a third-class lever.
What are other examples of first, second and third class levers?
First class: a crowbar, a pair of scissors and a pair of pliers. Second class: a nutcracker and a bottle opener. Third class: a pair of tweezers and a pair of tongs.
Why use a third-class lever if the effort is bigger than the load?
For reach and speed. The effort arm is shorter than the load arm, so the effort is larger than the load, but the far end moves farther and faster than the hand. Hence its other name, speed multiplier.
Is a lever a simple machine?
Yes. A lever is a beam or stiff rod that turns on a fixed hinge, the fulcrum. Renaissance scientists counted it among the six simple machines.