Les wrote: > On Sun, 2010-03-07 at 08:45 +0800, Ed Greshko wrote: > >> Les wrote: >> >>> Do you know that the car has a differential or what that does? The car >>> would not work without it, but it is not part of the knowledge you need >>> to drive the car. But you do need to realize that the wheels rotate one >>> way on one side and the opposite on the other and that they run at >>> slightly different speeds, if you are going to race. That small bit of >>> knowledge along with other similar bits would make you the exception on >>> the course and give you an advantage. It is the same with computers. >>> >>> >>> >> I hate to mention this...but I wouldn't want to have you as my >> mechanic. :-) >> >> The wheels of a car *do not* rotate one way on one side and the opposite >> on the other. You have simply changed your frame of reference. Roll a >> bicycle forward. Standing on one side of the bike, the wheels are >> rotating clockwise. Stand on the other, they are rotating counterclockwise. >> >> A car would work without a differential in much the same way a wagon or >> cart would. However, when cornering the tires would need to rotate at >> different speeds. This would tend to cause slipping on one side and >> dragging on the other and lead to control problems as well as damage to >> the tires. >> >> > You are both right and missing the point. If you take the wheel off one > side of a car and put it on the other, its direction of rotation > changes, because it is mounted to a rim that will only go on with same > side against the hub. Thus I can say that the wheels do indeed rotate > one way on one side and the opposite on the other. You said it > yourself, clockwise on one side and counter clockwise on the other. It > is an engineering function. And it is not just cornering where the > wheels rotate at different speeds, but all the time. Tires wear, so > even if they started out measured to microscopic tolerance, over time > they would be different diameters. This means the wheels rotate at > different speeds even going down a straight road. Cart wheels actually > rotated independently of the axel for this very reason. Look at the old > wagons, or even roman chariots, the axel is a bar, but each wheel > rotates on a bearing on that axel. Some basic vehicles use a solid axel > and just put up with the stress on the axel and wear of the wheels, but > most alleviate it in some way. > > And I would not want to be your mechanic. > > Either you forgot to put in the smiley face at the end or you really are a grumpy old man....or maybe that is Gene. :-) Of course I am correct...and of course you are. It is all a matter of frame of reference, which you didn't establish. Why the heck do you think I put in the part about clockwise and counterclockwise? In an earlier message I wrote that I didn't have a sight problem...but missed the *obvious* from time to time. Looks as if I'm not the only one. :-) :-) :-) From time to time this list gets less and less fun as people seem to take themselves too seriously. And to think my objective was only steer away from a ridiculous "conversation" into what I though was a relatively benign one. Nice to see I was proven wrong yet again. :-) :-)
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