Fishing rod as a lever

Let’s see how Fishing rod acts as a specific class of lever, and why it is used.

When we use a fishing rod to cast a line, the rod works as a class 3 lever.

Fulcrum and load are at 2 opposite ends of the fishing rod.

Effort (force) is applied in between fulcrum and load.

One hand works as a fulcrum at one end of the rod (base of the rod).

The other hand applies a powerful force near the base of the rod to create a smaller force at the tip of the rod.

Here, Load is less than effort.

That means we need to apply a bigger effort (in terms of force) to get a smaller load lifted. That’s why the Mechanical advantage of the fishing rod is less than 1.

Although the force is weaker, the tip moves much farther and faster than our hands, magnifying the speed.

For further study, read this post on Mechanical Advantage. Also, read about the types of levers and Speed gain.