Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006

There is a "London Eye" type of Ferris Wheel in York, with cabins. I have
not yet been on it, and I do not know whether it is permanent or temporary.
It was sufficiently large that I could see it, with the aid of binoculars,
from the southern slopes of the North York Moors, some 15-20 miles away.

Apart from the self-evident choice of London, York is an ideal place to
install a large commercial Ferris Wheel. Unlike Manchester and Leeds, you
have something beautiful to look at while you're taking your flight in York.

Richard Chambers        Leeds   UK.

The first Ferris Wheel, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
in 1893, was 250 feet in diameter and had enclosed cars holding up to
60 passengers each.  Mr. Ferris thought big.

Here's a picture, along with more than you might want to know:
<http://www.hydeparkhistory.org/newsletter.html>

But we always called it the "Big" Wheel, didn't we? (How many are there
in Blackpool. I only recall one.) The Ferris name didn't enter my vocab
until I came over here to North America.

Cheers, Sage

I know, of course, that your posting was not meant to be taken seriously.
But there is a power station somewhere in Britain (I think it may be
Dungeness, but I am not sure), where they have designed the system so that
the two generators spin in opposite directions. This is because the entire
power station is built onto a concrete platform, whose foundations are
effectively "floating"[1] on sand, rather than embedded into rock. The rotor
of a generator weighs about 200 tonnes, and spins at 3000 revolutions per
minute (i.e. 50 revolutions per second). With this spin being superimposed
upon the underlying slow rotation of the earth, it was calculated that if
both generators were allowed to spin in the same direction, the gyroscopic
effect would cause the entire power station very gradually to turn round.
Over a period of years, this would have misaligned the roads on the power
station site with the incoming roads, and generallywould have caused havoc.
With the two generators spinning in opposite directions, the gyroscopic
effect of one generator is cancelled by the gyroscopic effect of the other,
and the power station site will not turn.

[1] Floating, yes, but not really in the conventional sense of the word.

Richard Chambers        Leeds   UK.

There are also Coriolis forces to consider. At the equator a
properly-aligned Ferris wheel - that is, one planned in conformance with
the principles of Feng Shui - has its spin axis parallel to the spin
axis of the Earth, which increases or decreases the net speed depending
on which way you spin the thing. At the North or South Pole the spin
axis is at right angles to the spin axis of the Earth, producing a
sideways force that will tend to fling you out of your seat. This is why
you'll never see a Ferris wheel at either of the poles. Personally, I'd
never want to ride one even at the latitude of the north of England.

The seats are fixed in position on the wheel...as each seat moves, the
others move but remain in their fixed relationship to the others.

For a diagram of a typical Ferris Wheel:
http://www.madehow.com/images/hpm_0000_0006_0_img0056.jpg

My comment about direction was intended only as a joke.  It wouldn't
make any difference which way the wheel turns.  The occupant of a seat
gets a better view, though, if the downward part of the turn has the
seat on the front-side of the wheel.