Can you lift a heavy weight using only your pinky finger? A lever (a bar that pivots on a fixed point) makes this possible. The secret is where you place the pivot. You start by pounding a nail into a wooden stud. Try pulling it out with your bare hands. Then use a hammer as a lever and notice how much easier it becomes. The hammer's claw is the effort arm, and the nail is the resistance arm. Next you set up meter sticks across plastic mugs as fulcrums (pivot points). You move the fulcrum to different positions and try lifting heavy weights with your pinky. The weight lifts easiest when the effort arm is longer than the resistance arm.