In a real system of levers, wheel or pulleys, the AMA (actual mechanical advantage) is less than the IMA (ideal mechanical advantage) because of the presence of friction.
In fact, the IMA and the AMA of a machine are defined as the ratio between the output force (the load) and the input force (the effort):
[tex]IMA= \frac{F_{out}}{F_{in}}[/tex]
however, the difference is that the IMA does not take into account the presence of frictions, while the AMA does. As a result, the output force in the AMA is less than the output force in the IMA (because some energy is dissipated due to friction), and the AMA is less than the IMA.
