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 distance
and the large force
moves a small distance
but if the lever is 100% efficient, then
For the hydraulic system shown above, a volume of fluidis moved down a distance
by 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 distance
The decrease in volume of column 2 is equal to the increase in volume of column 1
(1)
or
and Pressure is constant throughout the fluid.
Soand
Substitute these into (1) to give
Sinceis much smaller than
is small and a small force
can produce a large force