How a pulley is similar to a lever You can probably understand how a pulley multiplies force in the same way that a seesaw, which is a type of lever, does. To raise someone four times your weight on a seesaw, you must sit four times farther away from the balance point (fulcrum) than they are. The greater the distance between the two sides of the seesaw, the more force is required to shift it. If you pull one end of the seesaw toward you, the other end will go up too because there's no point where one side is stronger than the other. But if you let go of the top end and leave the bottom end fixed, the top end will go down too because its gravity works just like your friend's weight on the seesaw. The same thing happens with a pulley. If you fix one end and pull hard on the other, the whole thing will come off the hub or pivot point. But if you let go of the end that's attached to the fixed object and free the other end to move by itself, that end will go down too because its weight works just like your friend's weight on the pulley. The greater the distance between the two sides of the pulley, the more force is required to move it. For example, say you have a pulley that's twice as big as another one and has enough rope over it to lift four times your weight.