Square wheel
Non-Circular Wheels
Non-Circular Wheels and Board

 

Code Number: 1M20.65

Demo Title: Non-Circular Wheels

Condition: Excellent

Principle: Non-Standard Simple Machines

Area of Study: Mechanics

Equipment: 

Square wheel, bumpy track, arc wheel/axel systems.

Procedure:

Place the square wheel / axel system on the bumpy road (catenary) track.  As the square wheel moves over the track, the axel height remains the same.

Place two arc wheel / axel systems on the table and place a board on top of them.  Move the board back and forth and observe the movement of the arc wheels under it.  You will see that the axels move up and down but that the distance from the table top to the board remains the same.  The board moves along on top of the arc wheels with no up and down motion.

References:

  • Thomas B. Greenslade Jr., "Scientific Treasures in My Attic", TPT, Vol. 61, #8, Nov. 2023, p. 702.
  • Thomas B. Greenslade Jr., "An Old Favorite: The Noncircular "Wheel" ",  TPT, Vol. 44, # 4, April 2006, p. 244.
  • James A. Flaten, "Curves of Constant Width", TPT, Vol. 37, # 7, Oct. 1999, p. 418.
  • Jeffrey R. Regester, "A Long and Bumpy Road", TPT, Vol. 35, # 4, April 1997, p. 232.
  • H. Richard Crane, "Three Intuition Teasers", TPT, Vol. 29, # 9, Dec. 1991, p. 593.
  • R. D. Edge, "The Wobbler", TPT, Vol. 28, # 2, Feb. 1990, p. 122.
  • L. Takacs, "The Square Wheel Revisited", AJP, Vol. 62, #12, Dec. 1994, p. 1141.
  • Nelson H. Klein, "Square Wheel", AJP, Vol. 61, #10, Oct. 1993, p. 893.
  • Don Rathjen, Paul Doherty, "Square Wheels", Square Wheels, 2002, p. 113.