Physics Life Hack: How to Remove a Fence Post Set in Concrete with a Lever

Fence posts are often set in concrete to keep them stable, which is great ... until you have to remove them. I've seen people dig all around the concrete to free the post, but that is way more digging than I want to do. Instead, you can make a long lever to remove it without any digging at all!
A lever is just a stiff arm that can pivot around some point (the fulcrum) such that you can apply a force to one part of the arm and get out a force from another part of the arm. This can be used to change the magnitude or the direction of a force, making a small force large or an upward force downward.
This mechanism hinges on (sorry, couldn't resist) the idea of rotational equilibrium. As long as the arm is at rest or moving at a consistent speed, the total torque on the arm must be zero because its angular acceleration is zero. When you use a lever to lift something, these conditions are typically met exactly or at least approximately.
If we use the fulcrum as our axis of rotation for the calculation, then the force from the fulcrum does not contribute to the total torque on the system, only the input and output forces do. This means that the torque caused by the input force must be equal to the torque caused by the output force.
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Technical note: More accurately, the torque from the input force must be equal in magnitude to the torque from the third law pair force to the output force. If we use the lever to lift a rock, we're talking about the force that the rock applies to the lever, not the force the lever applies to the rock. These two forces will be equal in size, as described by Newton's Third Law of Motion.
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The magnitude of the torque here is equal to the magnitude of the force multiplied by the distance from the pivot to the location of the force. If the two distances are different, the forces must be different as well to make the torques equal. For example, if the input force is 2 meters from the fulcrum, but the output force is only 1 meter from the fulcrum, the output force must have 2 times the magnitude of the input force.
To lift a post out of the ground requires a huge amount of force. To achieve this without special machinery, we simply need to place the input force much farther from the fulcrum than the output force. In this video, I applied a force to the lever a distance 10 times that of the output force on the post, making the output force 10 times that of the input force.
There are three classes of levers. A first-class lever has the fulcrum in the middle of the two forces, like a teeter-totter. A second-class lever places the output force in the middle, with the input force on one side and the fulcrum on the other. The lever in this video is a second-class lever, as is something like a wheelbarrow. A third-class lever has the input force in the middle, with the output force on one side and the fulcrum on the other. A lacrosse stick or a human forearm are examples of a third-class lever.

[@chucks4748]

Lol. I don't think that post was in there tight when you wiggled it pretty easy. Your way of removing a post in concrete would never work in Texas clay soil.

[@OU81TWO]

You rotated the post out and did not lift it straight up. It work because you have relatively soft earth surrounding the concrete which was only about 18"-24" deep from the looks of it. Now try this with a post set 5 ft in the ground. Never it a million years would it work.

[@roberte7606]

Spent an hour this morning prying 4 posts out with a thirty pound pry bar, trying to wedge between the side and the ground. I knew there had to be a better way. Me and my aching spine will be thanking you in short order. Thanks dude!

[@RichardsMovies]

Why wasn't the fulcrum between him and the post? It would be a lot easier to extract if he was pushing downward on the lever instead of trying to lift it

[@Wedgestand]

Ugly fence, nice lever.

[@dorothyvassallo7768]

Please Andrew - when editing turn down the volume of the music....those who are hard of hearing may have trouble hearing your voice. Thanks

[@mikescalise8380]

I have posts that are three feet in the ground, how can I get them out without demolition?

[@ironeagle22a]

This was like a Sesame Street episode. Even a three year old could understand.

[@robertfusselman8108]

This worked or use a farm jack with a chain and S hooks:-)

[@MichaelOnines]

Now you have a free concrete mass to use in the Cavendish experiment!

[@benmadley7778]

I have to give you credit, because you my dear sir, understand the fundamentals of LEVERS and LEVERAGE. Good post.

[@youtuuba]

Good and well explained demonstration of leverage. Science!

[@oswaldcassanova8941]

A compliment on everything, best video I have seen so far.

[@timothykatch1855]

The giant lever is a great idea, it helped me a lot. Thank you.

[@tonyalways7174]

That’s a great demonstration and very useful . Thanks for sharing

[@MrDambler77]

One of the best demos I've seen in a long time....well done Sir! I have learned something today.

[@brewmeisterjosh]

Tried it. Totally worked, thanks man

[@emanuelmota7217]

Great idea! Will try it.

[@paulgates5552]

Thanks, posts came out perfectly, saved a lot of time trying to dig them out. 👍👍

[@bossman8303]

Thanks , I learned something today.