The simplest way to find the IMA of a pulley. Ideal mechanical advantage of a pulley does not have to be a hard topic, it's easy. Once you know the IMA of a pulley, solving for AMA or the actual mechanical advantage as well as the percent efficiency is easy.

Pulleys are commonly used simple machines and it is important to understand the function of a pulley in order to succeed in both physics and engineering.

Simple machines commonly come up in physics, AP Physics, and in high school engineering courses such as Project Lead the Way Principles of Engineering PLTW POE.