Hydraulics operates in a manner similar to levers. A small force is applied at one point to produce a larger force at another point. The small forcemoves a large distanceand the large force moves a small distancebut if the lever is 100% efficient, then

For the hydraulic system shown above, a volume of fluidis moved down a distanceby piston 2 and as it moves towards piston 1, it forces the column of fluid 1 to increase in volume by the same amount () and piston 1 to move up a distanceThe decrease in volume of column 2 is equal to the increase in volume of column 1

(1)

orand Pressure is constant throughout the fluid.

Soand

Substitute these into (1) to give

Sinceis much smaller thanis small and a small forcecan produce a large force