Science
How Pi Keeps Train Wheels on Track – WIRED
Happy 3/14! Here’s how this mathematical constant keeps train cars from flying off their tracks during turns.
Illustration: Rhett Allain
Notice that there is a nice linear relationship between the angular position of the wheel and the horizontal position? The slope of this line is 0.006 meters per degree. If you had a wheel with a bigger radius, it would move a greater distance for each rotationso it seems clear that this slope has something to do with the radius of the wheel. Let’s write this as the following expression.
Illustration: Rhett Allain
In this equation, s is the distance the center of the wheel…
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