What is a Hydraulic Jack?
A hydraulic jack is a jack that uses a liquid to push against a piston. This is based on Pascal’s Principle. The principle states that pressure in a closed container is the same at all points. If there are two cylinders connected, applying force to the smaller cylinder will result in the same amount of pressure in the larger cylinder. However, since the larger cylinder has more area, the resulting force will be greater. In other words, an increase in area leads to an increase in force. The greater the difference in size between the two cylinders, the greater the increase in the force will be. A hydraulic jack operates based on this two cylinder system. Hydraulic jacks have six main parts. These are the reservoir, pump, check valve, main cylinder, piston, and release valve. The reservoir holds hydraulic fluid. A pump will draw the fluid up and then create pressure on the down stroke as it pushes the fluid through the check valve. This valve allows the fluid to leave the reservoir and en
