What is the ideal mechanical advantage (IMA) of a screw with a circumference of 60 mm and a pitch of 3 mm?

To determine the ideal mechanical advantage (IMA) of a screw, you can use the formula:

[ \text{IMA} = \frac{\text{Circumference}}{\text{Pitch}} ]

In this scenario, the circumference of the screw is given as 60 mm, and the pitch is 3 mm.

First, plug the values into the formula:

[ \text{IMA} = \frac{60 , \text{mm}}{3 , \text{mm}} ]

Calculating this gives:

[ \text{IMA} = 20 ]

This means the ideal mechanical advantage of the screw is 20, which indicates that for every unit of force applied to turn the screw, the output force is magnified by a factor of 20.

Understanding IMA is essential in realizing how screws work in mechanical systems—essentially converting rotational motion into linear motion while amplifying force. This characteristic makes screws effective in various applications, such as clamping and holding components together.