Question

When opening a hinged door, the handle is usually on the side of the door farthest from the hinges. Rank the difficulty of opening the door if you were to push or pull on the following locations on the door:

Hardest To Open

Easiest Open

1. As close to the hinges as possible

2. the center of the door

3. The edge farthest from the hinges

Answer 1

The order of difficulty in opening the door is as follows:

As close to the hinges as possible (hardest to open) \(>\) the center of the door \(>\) the edge farthest from the hinges (easiest open)| \(1>2>3\)

There exists the principle of torque. \(\tau=F d\)

\(F \propto \frac{1}{d}\)

As the distance increases (from the hinge point to edge), the force that is applied to open the door decreases and it is easy to open it when the handle is fixed at the edge rather than at the hinge.