The merry go round

[Ealadha]

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=we ... yQ&cad=rja

I think a merry go round had something to do with the bessler wheel , they have horses on them and bessler said "putting the cart before the horse" in MT .

[Ealadha]

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=we ... 9g&cad=rja

Carousels were around in the 1700s , says some things about them in the link above .

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=we ... GQ&cad=rja

And in the above link says they worked in the eighteenth century by using centrifugal force .

Is carousel the one word that could give away the secret !

[Gwheel]

There was a merry-go-round in the public park near my childhood home. It was probably constructed by the park department as I remember it to be an auto axle buried on end with a welded metal frame attached to the hub. The riding surface was about 10 -12 feet in diameter constructed of 1 by 8 boards. That was divided into four quadrants with four wide U-shaped pipe rails extending from the center to about 2" from the circumference. We were pretty rugged as kids, and we would get about 5 of us together, grab the outer end of the rails, start running to get it rotating, and jump on. Then by shifting our weight, we could get it rotating at a really good clip, at which point we would take turns grabbing onto the outer part of the rail with our body flying out past the edge of the merry-go-round. Of course, we could not get back on, so when we had enough, we would just let go, and go flying out feet first as if using "David's sling". This produced some rough landings (maybe prepared me for a future career... lol). No one of my friends was ever seriously injured, although I understand many merry-go-rounds today have been removed from parks due to head and neck injuries... sad.

http://www.aaastateofplay.com/merry-go-rounds-c-37.html

I suspect the kids body action to spin the merry-go-round may be somewhat similar to the action of playing a swing. Does anyone remember? Can you describe the action?

[path_finder]

http://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/viewt ... 5854#55854

[Ealadha]

Pathfinder , you don't need a power source for your merry go round , there is another way of powering it .
The horse on the merry go round is built to rock backwards and forwards , pulling something in against CF via a lever , so as you rock backwards and forwards on the horse , the oscillation causes the wheel to rotate .

[nicbordeaux]

Sure, rocking the horses, with pendulums, will get you some turns. But it won't be PM. If you find a balance point where amplitude of rocking and centriifugal from a given dia/weight of merry go round at a given rpm are as close to perfect synchronization as possible, it still won't be PM.

[Ealadha]

Yes , its not PM , you power it by riding the horse .
There were no electric motors in those days , the merry go rounds were human powered .

[nicbordeaux]

OK, 'molto 'scusi, I understand you now. Thx for pointing out !

[Ealadha]

Can you describe the action?

Force would be applied at 0 degrees or more to the axis of rotation and via a pulley and/or levers force would be applied at ninety degrees to the axis of rotation .

[Gwheel]

Ealadha

Thank you. I don't remember a persons body movement to rotate a merry-go-round. I was hoping someone could describe it. Do I really have to go to a childrens playground to check this motion? Let's see... if I go at midnight maybe I won't be seen.

I think a merry go round had something to do with the bessler wheel...

I agree. I think it may have a lot to do with Bessler's wheel. It is possible, maybe even probable, Bessler designed a mechanism to allow change in tangential speed of a body during rotation.

Regards,
Chris

[Gwheel]

For your interest, using ropes, levers, and ratchet:

MERRY-GO-ROUND DRIVEN BY HAND (Popular Science - Sep, 1934)

[Mark]

Yeah, I remember those.

"Whirly Bird' video -- a family movie, the segment of interest starts at 1:30 (I seem to remember that we called it a Barf-a-round, great fun!)

Pictures of a version called a "Pull-A-Way"

Short video of a related gizmo, the "Witches Hat"

[nicbordeaux]

Quick, put a 100 kg pendulum on each of those lever drives and run a sanyo gen lifted from a small Japanese car :(

[Ealadha]

In german it is 'karussel' if anyone wants to see if there is any historical documentation , i am not sure where to look for what they had in the eighteenth century , or even the late seventeenth century .
Does anyone know ?

[Ealadha]

Do I really have to go to a childrens playground to check this motion?

I will draw it later when i have time and post it , maybe tomorrow .