 Welcome to What Is Torque? Torque is a turning effort. An example is a person using a hand crank to raise a pail of water from a well. To raise the pail, the crank must apply enough torque. Torque is defined by the formula T equals F times D. The letters represent torque equals force times distance. The unit of measurement for torque is pound-foot or pound-feet. In the well scenario, if the crank is one foot in length and one pound of force is applied, the torque is one pound-foot. As we see here, torque equals force times distance. So torque equals one pound times one foot, which equals one pound-foot. Let's suppose that a small child is turning the crank on the well and is only able to apply 15 pounds of force. The amount of torque applied is 15 pound-feet. If the weight of the pail was 30 pounds when filled with water, the child would not be able to raise it. To be able to raise the pail of water, there are two choices. Either increase the length of the crank or apply more force to the one foot crank. Let's take a closer look at these two choices. If the crank was extended to two feet, the child who is only able to provide 15 pounds of force could now raise the 30 pound pail. Because torque equals force times distance, torque equals 15 pounds times two feet, so torque equals 30 pound-feet. If a force of 30 pounds or greater is applied to the one foot crank by a larger person, the pail could be raised. Since torque equals force times distance, torque equals 30 pounds times one foot, which equals 30 pound-feet. So either increasing the length of the crank or applying more force to the crank would result in a torque of 30 pound-feet.