Speaking of wheels turning, in many old movies, the stagecoach wheels seem to be turning backwards--is that simply an effect of the film frequency and the wheel angular frequency? -----Original Message----- From: math-fun-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:math-fun-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Henry Baker Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 4:42 PM To: math-fun Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [math-fun] yacht question The front wheel of a bicycle travels more than the rear wheel, because it is the steering wheel. (The rear wheel track always points at the direction of tangent contact of the front wheel, more-or-less.) I would imagine that since the rudder in a (prototypical) yacht is in the rear, that the rear end of a yacht travels further than the front end. On submarines & some very large ships, they have front rudder-like steering apparatuses, as well, so perhaps they are more balanced. The real question is why boats stear from the rear (other than the fact that it is more comfortable for the captain to be there (not crashing up & down in the front), and perhaps it is the case that even with more modern technology, no one bothered to re-think where the best place to put the rudder would be. A little-known 'turning point' in history took place right around the turn of the century 1900, when the rudder wheels started turning in the direction of the turn, instead of the reverse, which had been standard up until then. This change may have been done to make it consistent with those new-fangled automobiles. Many movies get this wheel direction/turning direction relationship of these older ships wrong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship's_wheel At 01:55 PM 6/24/2013, James Propp wrote:
Do the front and back of a yacht travel the same distance?
(Let's assume that the earth is flat for purposes of this problem.)
Here's a question that I think is equivalent: If a yacht travels in a circle, do the front and back ends of the yacht travel on circles of the same radius?
Jim Propp
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