The lever is a simple machine consisting of a bar supported at some stationary point along its length and used to overcome resistance at a second point by application of force at a third point. The stationary point of a lever is known as its fulcrum.

The Lever Principle has been found by experiment where two equal forces were acting in opposite directions, i.e., clockwise and counterclockwise, and applied to a uniform lever at equal distances from the fulcrum counteract each other and established a state of equilibrium, or balance, in the lever. Experiment has also shown that two unequal forces when acting in opposite directions will bring about an equilibrium when the product of the magnitude of one force and its effort arm, or lever arm (the distance of its point of application from the fulcrum), is equal to the product of the magnitude of the other force and its effort arm. In physics the product of a force by its effort arm is called moment of the force. The general conclusion known as the principle of moments states that equilibrium is established when the sum of the moments of the forces acting in a clockwise direction is equal to the sum of the moments of the forces acting in a counterclockwise direction. It is possible, as a result, to overcome a very large force at a short distance from the fulcrum with a very small force at a great distance from the fulcrum. Archimedes is supposed to have boasted, having the lever in mind, that given a place to stand he could move the Earth.