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If you saw off a disc-shaped slice from a log of wood, and it rolls a few meters, you experience first hand that a single wheel can balance itself. Some say thi
by tcmb 7y ago
If you saw off a disc-shaped slice from a log of wood, and it rolls a few meters, you experience first hand that a single wheel can balance itself. Some say this is how the wheel was invented in the first place [citation needed].
- SiempreViernes 7y agoRight, now stand on said disk. Turns out the you+disk system doesn’t trivially balance...
- tcmb 7y agoThat's not a fair continuation of the thought, is it? Even balancing on an entire rotating log isn't trivial. The problem here is standing on a small patch of surface that is moving under you. The required insight for the bicycle is that, counterintuitively, a rolling wheel doesn't fall to either side. The axles, fork, frame, and seat are 'just' the elaborate way of mounting yourself to those rotating discs so that you can move along with them while sitting still.
- woodandsteel 7y agoThat sounds like a unicycle, which is a hundred times harder to balance than a bicycle. The physics of how a bicycle balances itself when you are moving is very different than that, complicated, and quite unintuitive. Basically when the bike starts to lean to one side, the rotation of the front wheel causes it to steer to move the bike underneath the direction you are leaning. This happens several times a second, and faster than a human can react. https://www.citylab.com/design/2015/05/the-weird-wonderful-science-of-how-bicycles-balance-themselves/392690/ https://www.citylab.com/design/2015/05/the-weird-wonderful-s...
- lovemenot 7y ago>> ... a unicycle, which is a hundred times harder to balance than a bicycle. It's not that hard to unicycle. It just seems so to people who didn't try it until they were an adult. In Japan, any junior high school may have a few unicycles and you frequently see kids larking around on them in the playground. Nothing special.
- wingerlang 7y agoAgreed, i think they take a somewhat equal amount of time to get going on. Probably takes a few hours over a few days on both of them to get going.
- jhrmnn 7y agoAnyone can experience this by overtightening the headset (the steering axis) on a bike. Suddenly one has to focus on balancing way more and riding a bike no handed becomes almost impossible.