Movement Analysis

What Movement Analysis covers

Movement Analysis is examined in Paper 1, The human body and movement in physical activity and sport. It covers lever systems and mechanical advantage, joint movements in sporting actions and planes and axes of movement.

The 3 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Lever systems and mechanical advantageFulcrum, effort and load, first, second and third class levers at the elbow, knee and ankle, and mechanical advantage with worked calculations.Open →
• Joint movements in sporting actionsThe movements at the shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and ankle in push-ups, throw-ins, running, kicking, jumping, squats and bowling.Open →
• Planes and axes of movementThe sagittal, frontal and transverse planes, the axes that pair with them, and the planes and axes used in somersaults, cartwheels, spins and throws.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Movement Analysis further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• First class lever vs Third class lever

  First class lever: a bar whose pivot sits between the pulling force and the weight being moved. Third class lever: a bar whose pulling force sits between the pivot and the weight being moved.

• Second class lever vs First class lever

  Second class lever: a bar with the weight being moved placed between the pivot and the pulling force. First class lever: a bar with the pivot placed between the pulling force and the weight being moved.

• Effort arm vs Resistance arm

  Effort arm: the distance from the pivot to where the muscle pulls. Resistance arm: the distance from the pivot to the weight being moved.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What are the three parts of a lever system, and what provides each one in the body?

   Model answer

   A lever system has a fulcrum, an effort and a load, also called the resistance. In the body the joint is the fulcrum and the muscle supplies the effort. The load is the weight of the body part plus anything it moves.

2. 2

   Where is the fulcrum in a first class lever?

   Model answer

   The fulcrum sits between the effort and the load. A seesaw is an everyday first class lever.

3. 3

   Where is the load in a second class lever?

   Model answer

   The load sits between the fulcrum and the effort. A wheelbarrow works as a second class lever.

4. 4

   Where is the effort in a third class lever?

   Model answer

   The effort sits between the fulcrum and the load. Most levers in the body are third class.

5. 5

   How does the memory aid FLE 1, 2, 3 help identify a lever class?

   Model answer

   FLE names the part that sits in the middle of each class. The fulcrum is central in first class, the load in second and the effort in third.

6. 6

   Describe how a linear diagram of a second class lever is laid out.

   Model answer

   A straight bar has the fulcrum at one end and the effort at the other end. The load sits on the bar between them.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Movement Analysis revision questions

What does Movement Analysis cover in AQA GCSE Physical Education?

3 subtopics: lever systems and mechanical advantage, joint movements in sporting actions and planes and axes of movement. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Movement Analysis organised?

By the AQA 8582 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.